Change pt 2
by Serenity Dragonrider
Summary: This is based on Change by Splendidguy 44. It's his story from the point of view of my character Serenity.
1. Chapter 1

Change pt. 2

Chapter 1

The sun rose over the land of Draconia. The Nightly dragons came in from hunting and fishing, and the day dragons were just waking up. In the Draconian castle Serenity, the only human in the country, woke up to bright sunlight streaming through her window. She sat up and yawned. She then swung her legs over the side of the bed. She glanced around her room. Her eyes fell on the enormous Round Table in the middle of the room. It was one of Queen Aurora's many rare antiques. Serenity got out of bed and went over to it. She loved the table and not because it was famous, but because there were a lot of memories surrounding it. Then her gaze shifted to the glass case on the wall near her bed, that held the famous magical sword Excalibur.

Once all the nostalgia wore off Serenity decided to get dressed. She changed out over her velvet nightgown and into a pale blue blouse, and a blue skirt that was decorated with silver snowflakes. Though winter hadn't started yet, the air was getting cold and snow was imminent. Once she was dressed, she left the room.

Serenity didn't have any plans for the day. She walked the halls of the castle. There was a large, empty void within the castle. It made her feel sad and lonely. Her dragons were out fishing together, so she had the place to herself. She made a snap decision to visit the gallery that held Queen Aurora's other antiques.

She crossed the castle to the gallery. She crossed the stone bridge and through the door. She glanced around the room. There were quite a bit of memories in this room too. The various items were sitting on pedestals, or hanging on hooks. She walked through the room to the ramp that led to the floor below. She entered the second part of the gallery, that held the Argo and the Trojan Horse. There weren't as many memories in this room. She went over the Trojan Horse and sat on its platform. She let her mind go back in time to when she was a child. Those days were some of the happiest of her life, up there with spending long hours under her Golden Apple Tree in the little viking town of Berk.

She leaned against the wooden wheel of the horse. She absentmindedly fiddled with the red orange dragon scale locket around her neck. The locket held photographs of two very special friends of hers. One friend was alive and well, the other was not. This friend was the one who had left the huge void in the castle, and in her heart. The locket felt like a bandaid over the empty space. She hoped the dragons would be home soon, so she wouldn't be so alone.

She made her way back to her room. She made herself breakfast and at it at the Round Table. She watched the dragons flying over Draconia's capital city, Bluegreen. The city fanned out at the base of the castle and extended down the cliffs and hills on either side of the massive lagoon that was also at the base of the castle. In the far distance Serenity could see the huge wall that closed off the lagoon and the Golden Gates. Then her eyes looked at the locked cabinet near the window, that contained her fairy tale books. On top of the cabinet was her favorite fairy tale, Cinderella. She had started reading it ten years ago, for the hundredth time, but she had stopped at the point when Cinderella's stepsisters head off to the ball, leaving Cinderella alone. She hadn't finished it since. Her happily ever after seemed so far away.

Her heart gave a little jump when she heard a tapping on her door. Serenity tore her attention from the book and looked at the door.

"Come in," she called. The door opened and the three royal dragons came in. King Re, Queen Aurora, and Tenor the Prime Minister. All three of them were clad in shiny armor, keeping them warm while fishing out at sea.

Re was a handsome emerald green with a kelly green underbelly, and ocean blue eyes. He was as tall as a draft horse, and ten times stronger. He had the body and legs of a wolf, lizard like paws. He had a long, thick neck, narrow lizard-like head, and a pair of horns at the back. His tail was long and thin. The last third of it had no bones, just flexible muscle. It could be used as an extra hand, as a whip, giving his breed the name of Whippertail. His armor was gold with the Draconian crest on his head plate, which doubled as his crown.

Aurora looked very similar to Re, except that she was sapphire blue with a tropical blue underbelly and silver eyes. She was slightly slimmer than Re. Her armor was silver. On her crown was a large snowflake made of sapphires and turquoise stones. She was one of the very few dragons in the world that had the gift of magic, like her father the Dragon God, Lord Draco.

Tenor was a very different dragon. He was a Blackfang, Night Fury hybrid, the only one in existence. He was as tall as an Arabian stallion. He had the body, green eyes, wings, fins, sonar flaps, spins, and glossy black scales of a Night Fury. He also had a long, thick neck, narrow head, square forehead and the legs of a panther. In his mouth were a set of teeth so venomous they were jet black. One bite would kill a victim quicker than blinking.

Serenity felt better, now that they were home. The place didn't feel so empty.

"Hello my dear," said Re.

"Hello dragons," Serenity said, quietly. Being dragons, they were quick to notice her mood.

"Why are you so quiet?" asked Re. Serenity sighed. She wasn't sure if she should bring up this subject with the dragons, she knew Re still blamed himself for it.

"I don't know," she said after a few minuets. "I guess I'm just enjoying the quiet." She knew it was pointless to lie to a dragon. They had the talent of spotting a lie a mile away.

"You guess?" said Aurora, her eyes narrowed slightly. Serenity sighed and leaned back in her chair. Tenor lowered his head and gently nudged her shoulder.

"Come on Serenity," he said. "You can tell us anything." Serenity absentmindedly stroked his muzzle.

"You guys really want to know?" she asked. She figured she couldn't avoid the subject forever. The dragons all nodded. Serenity took a deep breath.

"I'm, thinking about him," she said. For some reason she found hard to say his name.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that," said Re. Aurora thought a moment.

"Wait, you mean..." she stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

"It's been ten years, and yet I feel it happened yesterday," said Serenity, close to tears. Re hung his head.

"It's all my fault too, if I had just..." he couldn't finish either. Aurora wrapped her wing around him.

"Hey, it's not your fault," she said gently. "It's impossible to search the entire ocean. You gave it your best and no one blames you. I still love you." She nuzzled his neck. He nuzzled her back.

"Well, I'm not going to loose anyone else on my watch," Re said. "Ever again."

"Good, and we'll help you too," said Tenor. Re glanced around at everyone gathered around Serenity's table. They all had looks on their faces that told Re they were thinking the same thing. He smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, everyone," he said. Serenity still felt bad about bringing it up, as it caused her king pain.

"I'm sorry your majesty," she said. "I know it's not an easy memory for you." Re cleared his throat, getting a hold of himself.

"It's okay Serenity," he said. "I prefer no secrets be kept in this family." Serenity turned her attention to the window, trying to come up with a change of subject.

But she suddenly spotted a dark speck flying over the gates. She sat up, pleased with the distraction.

"It seems we have a visitor," she announced. The dragons turned their attention to this distraction. Then they exchanged a glance. Serenity got to her feet. She grabbed her hat and mounted Aurora. The queen used her magic to open the massive window. Then the three dragons spread their wings and flew out to see who had come.

It was Astrid and Stormfly. Serenity was surprised for sure. This was the first time one of the Vikings or dragons of Berk had come to Draconia. They hovered over the lagoon.

"Astrid, Stormfly," said Serenity, with surprise. "What brings you here?"

"Can we land?" asked Astrid. "It took us all night to get here."

"Sure," said Serenity. She pointed to a pavilion perched on a hill top. The dragons headed for it and landed. Stormfly was stumbling in exhaustion and breathing heavily.

"You okay?" asked Tenor.

"Yes...I...just...need...a...quick...breather...," Stormfly panted. Re folded his wings and turned to Astrid.

"So, like Serenity asked, what brings you here?" he asked. "Did you come to see the sights?"

"As lovely as this place is," began Astrid. "I've actually come to ask you for your help." This put the Draconians on alert, and Astrid had their full attention.

"What happened?" asked Aurora.

"Well, we uh, I mean, the village is in trouble," Astrid stammered. "We, er, got raided by dragons." The Draconians looked both surprised and concerned.

"Sorry, what?" Re asked. Astrid took a deep breath before continuing.

"A group of about 20 dragons or so sneak attacked our village last night." She said. "They came in search of a map we found on an abandoned boat in our waters yesterday. What was weird was that, even though we outnumbered them, they held their own, and believe it or not, they could've defeated us if they wanted to. Somehow they, changed mid-battle. I don't know what it was, but they got like a power boost or something, because we had them pinned down, but once they transformed, they got the upper hand."

"Changed?" said Re, interested. "You mean they activated their titan wing?" He paused a moment. "Wait, they ALL activated their titan!?"

"Well whatever it was," said Astrid. "Like I said they handed our butts to us. And they had a female Night Fury with them." The Draconians became more alert at this news.

"Female Night Fury?" said Serenity. She glanced sideways at Tenor. Tenor himself however, looked slightly doubtful.

"And she had a rider with her," added Astrid. The Draconians exchanged a glance.

"Sorry Astrid, but your story is getting harder and harder to believe," said Tenor. Aurora frowned at him.

"It's true," said Stormfly.

"Come on Tenor, she wouldn't have flown all night just to get here and lie to us," said Re. "If Hiccup wants our help, then by Draco we'll help him. Serenity, pack your stuff. Looks like we're going on a trip."

"Yes sir," said Serenity. She turned Aurora around and they flew back to the castle.

When they landed back in Serenity's room and Serenity dismounted, she instantly began to gather her things. She pulled her medical bag out from under her bed. She put it on the table with her tent, sleeping roll, and sleeping bag. Then she quickly changed into her riding uniform. Aurora waited patiently. Serenity put all her things onto Aurora's saddle, she also brought along her Cinderella book. Finally she pulled her hair back into a dragon's tail (braid) and mounted the queen. They turned around and flew off, Aurora closed the window with her magic.

The first thing they noticed when they got back, was that Re seemed to be in a trance. Serenity dismounted.

"Re, wake up," said Aurora. Re snapped out of his stupor and turned to them.

"Oh, you're ready?" he said. Serenity and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"Yes, we've been ready for a few minuets," said Aurora. "What's wrong? You had a blank expression on your face, like you were lost in thought." Re shook his head to clear it.

"I, I think," he stammered. He saw the confused look on all their faces. "Astrid will fill you in on the way." He looked at Stormfly who seemed somewhat restored.

"Are you able to make another long flight?" he asked.

"Yes my king," said Stormfly. Re looked at Aurora who nodded. Serenity quickly climbed onto Re's saddle. Since they were planning on traveling a lot, she decided she would ride each of her three dragons in turn. They spread their wings and took off.

While on the way to Berk Astrid filled them all in on the man and his dragons. She described the man as dark. He had short black hair, tan skin, dark brown eyes, and large ears. He had worn a dark colored shirt, black trousers and boots, and a black trench coat with fur lined sleeves. He carried a pair of twin swords. And the most interesting thing about this man, was that he spoke Dragontongue. Serenity felt like she had been hit by lightening. Everything about this mad sound familiar, except for the swords. Is sounded a lot like the dear friend that was tucked away in her locket. It looked like the distraction, wasn't really a distraction.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

It took them another day and night to reach Berk. It was the second sunset when they reached the island. Re let out a roar to announce their arrival. They spotted Hiccup on the cliff over the training arena, waving at them. The dragons turned and flew towards the cliff. Most of the dragons landed gracefully, except Stormfly. She stumbled from exhaustion, almost dislodging Astrid. She jumped down as Toothless went up to Stormfly.

"You're tired," he said. "I want you to feed yourself at the feeding trey, then go get some rest."

"I'm fine Toothless," Stormfly panted. "I just need..."

"You're body tells me otherwise," Toothless interrupted. "You need rest. I'll not tell you again, go." Stormfly spread her wings and took off. Re turned to Toothless.

"It seems you've been doing well as an alpha," he said.

"An alpha protects them all," Toothless said, valiantly. "Takes care of all the dragons." Re snorted in agreement.

"I knew he'd make a great alpha," said Serenity, as she slid off Re's back. She stroked Toothless's neck, making him purr. She was amazed at how big he'd grown since she'd last seen him. He was almost as tall as the Draconian dragons, and much taller than her.

"I missed you," said Toothless, nuzzling her shoulder.

"I missed you," said Serenity. She scratched his ears. Aurora turned to Hiccup.

"You need our help yes?" she asked.

"Yes," said Hiccup. "And now that you're here, we should talk behind closed doors. Everyone's waiting for you in the great hall." Without waisting another minuet; Astrid and Hiccup got on Toothless, and Serenity mounted Re. They took off and headed for the great hall.

Serenity hadn't seen the place in many years. She was quite surprised at how much had changed. She saw the water tower, the windmill, the weather vane, the feeding stations, the dragon washes, and the hanger.

"Wow," she said. "I hardly recognize it."

"It's amazing what you can do without war," said Re. They turned and headed for the door of the great hall. The three riders dismounted and went inside. The other riders were there waiting. Serenity didn't recognize the two new additions. They all came up to great the Draconians. Serenity stayed close to her king.

"So, you're Serenity," said Valka. "The famous dragon healer my son talked about. I'm Valka, Hiccup's mother. It's nice to meet you." Serenity smiled politely.

"I'm not that famous," she said modestly. "But it's nice to meet you too." Then she was approached by a dark haired man, about her age.

"So, this is Serenity in the flesh," he said. "You're far prettier in person." He grasped her hand and kissed it. Serenity blushed, pulling her hand back.

"And who exactly are you?" she asked.

"I'm Eret son of Eret," said Eret. Serenity murmured, with false interest. Tenor cleared his throat.

"Now, that we've got the introductions out of the way," he said. "Why don't we talk about this problem you face." Serenity shot him a grateful look.

"Yes, you're right," said Aurora. She turned to Hiccup again. "What did you have in mind?" They all gathered around a table. Serenity was still staying close to her dragons, she didn't trust Eret.

"Everyone around this table will go after the mysterious rider and his dragon," said Hiccup. "We'll talk to him, ask him why the map is so valuable, and why he needed to raid Berk to get it." Serenity felt her heart beat faster, nervously.

"Won't he just attack us again?" asked Tuffnut.

"Again, the only reason he raided Berk was to get the map," said Hiccup.

"Then why are you going to ask him why he raided Berk?" asked Ruffnut, confused. "If you already know the answer."

"If someone attacks my village, I will find out why they chose to do so," said Hiccup, with determination. "All I'm saying is, I didn't like the guy's tone when he confronted us. There's more to him than meets the eye." Serenity took a deep breath.

"And what will you do after you talk to him?" she asked. The last thing she wanted was a fight between her new friends and her old one.

"Nothing, I don't want to hurt the guy just talk to him," said Hiccup. He must have seen the nervous look on her face. "Why?"

"I, I just don't want anyone getting hurt," she said. "That's all." She stroked Re's neck.

"Won't he just attack us again?" asked Fishlegs. "He could, especially since we said we wouldn't follow him."

"You all know how stubborn I can be," said Hiccup. "You really think I'll just let the guy walk away?" They all murmured in agreement. Serenity was a bit scared. She hoped her friend was not in danger.

"Right," said Hiccup. "We leave tomorrow morning. I want everyone to pack their things and get a good night sleep. I don't know how long we'll be gone, so pack all the necessities like food, clothing, etc. We'll meet in the plaza just before sunrise. Dismissed." They all left the great hall.

Outside the Draconians gathered in a circle to talk quietly. Serenity was nervous, more questions ran through mind than she'd ever had in her life. She turned to Re.

"Do you think it could be him?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's him," said Re. "He's the only human in the world, beside you, who speaks our language. The only thing that's different, is that he's grown now." Serenity gave a small smile, hoping that that was the only thing that had changed about him.

"What are we going to do when we meet him?" Tenor asked. "It's been ten years Re, do you think he's forgotten about us?"

"Don't say such a thing Tenor," Aurora snapped. "We're the ones who raised him, ever since we found him in that destroyed village."

"The only thing I worry about, is how's he going to react when he meets us," said Re. "Will he be mad?"

"We'll find out when we meet him," said Serenity. She could tell the others were as nervous as she was.

"It's a lot to take in," said Tenor, voicing everyone's mind.

"Come on you guys," said Serenity gently. "We have a long trip a head of us, we should all get some sleep."

The Draconians disbursed. Serenity set up her two man tent and went inside. She crawled into her sleeping bag. She heard her dragons making themselves comfortable around the tent. She lay there, deep in thought. Her friend was alive. She couldn't wait to see him again. She hoped he still was her friend, and that he would be just as happy to see her as she was to see him. She turned over on her side. She could see the dark outline of a dragon's back and wings on the wall of the tent. She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Serenity took down her tent with some help from the dragons. She rolled it up and put it on Re's saddle. Then she took her medical bag off and set it on a bench. She combed through it, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She didn't have to worry about running out of supplies, the bag had been enchanted to restock itself on remedies and bandages whenever it threatened to run low. She checked to make sure she had her silver stethoscope. Once she was satisfied she closed the bag and put back on Re's saddle. She was ready at the same time as the other riders. She mounted Re and joined the others in the middle of the plaza.

"Right, is everyone ready?" asked Hiccup. They all confirmed. "Good. Now since they left Berk three days ago, their sent will be faint. But Skullcrusher can follow any sent, not matter how faint it may be."

"How's he going to lead us to anything if he has nothing to go on?" asked Fishlegs.

"Good question," said Hiccup. "I put the map in a chest, and in order to get the map the man had to touch the chest. Skullcrusher has already picked up the sent. I want us to fly in a V formation, with Skullcrusher at the front and Re and Aurora at the ends." They all nodded in understanding. Then they all took off, and headed out over the sea following Skullcrusher.

They flew southeast over the vast ocean. Serenity was anxious about this meeting. She wondered when Re was going to tell them that they knew the man. The Berkians needed to know. They flew for a bit longer in silence, then Valka spoke.

"What troubles you mind Re?" she asked.

"Nothing," said Re innocently.

"Something is," said Astrid. "You've all had that nervous look on your faces since we left Draconia." The Draconians exchanged a glance.

"They might as well know," said Aurora.

"Know what?" asked Hiccup. Serenity took a deep breath.

"We, know attacked your village Hiccup," she said, solemnly. They all looked surprised and a bit annoyed, hearing this.

"And you decided to tell us this now, because?" Hiccup asked.

"Because he's my son," said Re, roughly. "My son, who up until now, we all thought was dead." No one spoke after this announcement.

"How can you guys have a human son when you're dragons?" asked Snotlout.

"He's obviously adopted Snotlout," said Hiccup. They all quieted down to hear the story.

"Back when Re was crowned king and I the Queen," began Aurora. "One of our priorities was to scout out foreign islands close to our boarders, checking to see if the humans were of potential threat. We came across one village that was completely destroyed. There were no signs of life anywhere. Suddenly we heard a faint cry coming from the ruins. We flew down to investigate and followed the sound to a burnt down house. There we found a baby boy in a basket, alone, defenseless, and unharmed. How he survived, we'll never know."

"We decided we couldn't leave him there to die," said Re. "So, we tried to find a home for him. Unfortunately all the villages we tried were either too hostile and barbaric, or saw us as a threat and shot at us. We couldn't abandon the baby, so we had no choice but to take him back to Draconia and raise him as our own." A still silence followed this story. Everyone took a minuet to absorb it all.

"What did you name him?" asked Valka.

"We didn't know what to call him at first," said Re. "We wanted to call him something unique, since he was going to be different from the other humans. After some discussion, we decided to call him Chris."

"Chris," said Eret. "And I thought Eret son of Eret was odd."

"You would not believe the reaction Draconia had to this kid," said Tenor. "Many of them thought he would be cruel like the rest of his kind. Re, Aurora, and I sought to prove them wrong. Though I was a segregate uncle, he gave me grey scales. That kid could get into trouble. I mean, Re and I were never good with kids, so you could imagine the struggle we had with raising him especially when he wasn't our own species. He was always pulling on my sonar flaps." He shook his head and snorted.

"Anyway," said Re. "We care for him as our own hatchling. It was a challenge. We taught him to walk, talk, and many other things young humans and young dragons needed to know. Though we knew very little about humans, we somehow pulled it off. It was incredible. The rest of the country was quite impressed when they saw how different he was from the other humans." He beamed, clearly proud of himself.

"He was my first human friend ever," said Serenity, all the memories she'd kept quiet so long were filling her mind. "We met when I first arrived at Draconia, we were both five yours old. We were best friends, we did everything together and it was fun. And er, I was actually the one who got him into all that trouble." She bit her lip nervously. This was something that only she and Chris knew about; not even the dragons knew.

"Really, how so?" Re asked, looking over his wing at her.

"Most of the ideas were, mine," Serenity said, sheepishly. "He said he didn't want be to get in trouble, so he would always take the blame for me. I tried to repay him, but he wouldn't let me. The least I could do was not abuse it or take it for granted." Everyone was surprised at this news. In all the years they had known Serenity, they would have never imagined she was a troublemaker. They always saw her as the obedient angel who never broke the rules. Serenity felt her cheeks go red with embarrassment. Re must have noticed this because he continued the story. Serenity zoned out for a few seconds. Her heart picked up the pace again, Re was about to come to the bad part. She knew it was going to cause him emotional pain again. But nevertheless he had to tell it.

"Then one day I, I," Re paused and swallowed hard. "I lost him." An intense silence followed. The sound of beating wings filled the air for several minuets.

"How did you lose him?" asked Astrid. Re sighed.

"We were out on a scouting mission," he said, trying to keep his voice from cracking. "We were checking out more potentially dangerous villages. He wanted to tag along but I denied him. After constantly pleading with me, I caved in and let him come. He was twelve at the time. He said he could take care of himself, but I was still worried about him. At the island we had landed on we had to make camp, there was a storm coming over the ocean. In the middle of the night we were ambushed by the locals and I have no idea how they found us. We escaped and were forced to fly home through the storm. I had my armor on, so I had to fly low to avoid lightning. My main challenge was avoiding the big waves while balancing a human on my back." He paused and took a deep breath. Serenity stroked his neck encouragingly. This was the hard part.

"Then he, fell off my saddle," Re continued. He spoke like he was in agony. "The rain plus my hazardous flying must have caused it. All I remember that day was his screams, calling for me, as he fell into the ocean. I looked for hours, clear after the storm passed even, I couldn't find him. I flew back to Draconia as fast as I could, and gathered every dragon and rider I could find to search the ocean. We searched for weeks before we had to call off the search. But even after everyone else came to terms with the truth, I didn't. I kept searching, I didn't give up. But I eventually had to stop when it was taking a toll on my health." He paused again. His face was scrunched up from the pain of the memory. But then he seemed to relax as his mind came back to the present.

"Now, you call us up here to help you track down your attacker who is more than likely my son," Re said. "It's just hard to process, with all the overwhelming thoughts and emotions in my head." An even longer silence followed. Hiccup eventually broke it.

"Well, Re," he said. "I can assure you that no harm will come to your son from anyone from my village." Re smiled with relief.

"Thank you," he said.

With the story over they turned their attention back to flying. They flew over the ocean in silence. Serenity let her mind go back to the past again. She daydreamed about the golden years she had with Chris, now that she knew there wasn't going to be a fight between her old friend and her new ones. She was also wondering where he had been the whole time, if he wasn't dead. Where did he live now? Why hadn't he contacted them, to let them know he was alive? Why hadn't he come home? Was he in trouble? The closer they got to him, the more anxious she was to see him; the only human in the whole world whom she was not afraid of.

As the sun went down the squadron found a reasonable sized island to land on. They touched down and the riders dismounted. Serenity unloaded her bed roll and sleeping bag. Aurora watched her as she set them down on the grass.

"So you're the one who broke my antiques?" Aurora asked. Serenity looked her in the eye.

"And I'm so sorry your majesty," she said. "I would have told you, but he made me promise. He didn't want me to get in trouble."

"It's okay Serenity," said Aurora. "I had no idea he was that good of a friend to you, that's all."

"He was the best," said Serenity. "I don't think I would have ever survived loosing Ruby if it weren't for him." She placed a hand over her hidden locket. She felt the tears in her eyes.

"What're you crying for?" asked Aurora.

"He was my best friend, and I got him all that trouble," said Serenity, guilt flooded her head. "He got sent to his room because of me." Aurora nuzzled her shoulder.

"It's okay," she said. "It happened a long time ago. There's no use beating yourself about it now."

"You're right," said Serenity, wiping her eyes. "But now I know he's alive. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pay him back."

"That is for sure," said Aurora. "And now you should get some rest. We still have a long way to go, and I don't even know where we're going."

"Yes ma'am," said Serenity respectfully. Aurora went over to Re and Serenity crawled into her sleeping bag. Tenor laid beside her. They fell asleep in minuets.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

The next day the squadron woke up bright and early. They packed up camp. Serenity rolled up her bed roll and sleeping bag and put them on Aurora's saddle. She was quite restless to get moving. She wanted to see Chris as soon as possible. She had just finished strapping down her camping gear when she felt a nudge on her shoulder. She turned to see Toothless smiling at her.

"Hi, Toothless," Serenity said. She stroked his head.

"Hello," Toothless said, purring at her touch.

"My, you certainly have grown since the last time I saw you," said Serenity.

"I was still a juvenile back then," said Toothless. Serenity scratched his ears.

"So, alpha huh?," she said, impressed.

"Yes, I can hardly believe it either," said Toothless. "It's been a pretty tough year though."

"You've been a leader before haven't you?" asked Serenity.

"Of five dragons," said Toothless. "Not of an entire squadron."

"It's only been your first year," said Aurora. "Give it a while and you'll get better at it. Just remember that you don't have to do everything by yourself, you have friends to help you."

"Thank you, your majesty," said Toothless. Just then Re joined them.

"We need to get going," he said. "If we want to get as far as possible before night fall."

"Yes sire," said Toothless. He left and went back to his rider. Serenity mounted Aurora. Everyone gathered and prepared to take off. The dragons spread their wings and continued their journey.

They followed the sent for another six days. They went farther and farther east. They soon were flying over mountains and valleys, leaving the ocean far behind. On the evening of the sixth day they landed. Skullcrusher seemed to have hit a dead end. Serenity dismounted Tenor. Re and Tenor went over to Skullcrusher. He was sniffing the air vigorously.

"What's wrong?" Tenor asked.

"The sent is her, but also not here," said Skullcrusher. "It's faint, but there is also the sent of many dragons as well." Re and Tenor exchanged a confused glance. Skullcrusher turned to them.

"It's hard to explain your majesty," he said. "He was here, now he's not. The sent from the dragons are masking his sent."

"Then with that many dragons, one of them is bound to have seen Chris," Re said. "Thank you Skullcrusher, we'll continue our search in the morning." Skullcrusher dipped his head in gratitude. Re and Tenor turned to the other riders and dragons. Serenity turned to Skullcrusher.

"I hope this isn't too much pressure," she said.

"No, not at all," said Skullcrusher. He lowered his head and she stroked his snout.

"So, if his sent has merged with that of so many dragons," Serenity said. "What do you think that means?"

"I think it means he's living with dragons in their nest," said Skullcrusher.

"How close do you think we are?" asked Serenity.

"No clue," said Skullcrusher. He spotted the sleepy look on her face. Serenity yawned. She hadn't realized how tired she was.

"You should get some sleep," Skullcrusher said. "Tomorrow could be the day you see him." Serenity felt her heart skip a beat. She turned around and went to join her dragons. She spread her bed roll and sleeping bag. She crawled into bed and rested her head on Tenor's neck. The others settled down as well. Serenity closed her eyes. She fell asleep dreaming of what the next day would bring.

Early the next morning everyone was woken up by Hookfang bursting into flames. They all jumped to their feet and turned to see what had gotten him so worked up. They followed his gaze and saw a Night Fury perched on the branch of a tree. She stared casually down at them. She was taller, yet slimmer than Toothless. She had golden yellow eyes.

"It's about time you all woke up," she said. She turned to Hookfang. "You know your flames won't here."

"And why is that?" snapped Hookfang.

"look around you, genius," the Night Fury snapped back. "Haven't you noticed that the air is warmer and thicker here. That's because it rains a lot here, and there's water in the air. So your flame trick won't get you very far, unless you want to exhaust yourself." Hookfang turned off his flame.

"Whoa, another Night Fury," said Tenor.

"No, I'm a Shockjaw," said the Night Fury. "Of course I'm a Night Fury, you don't get out much do you?" Tenor instantly shut his mouth.

"So, why are you here?" The Night Fury turned to Toothless.

"You know very well why here," Toothless growled.

"Oh, yes," said the female. "Your the one who tried to catch me, or should I saw couldn't catch me even if you had your titan wing activated." Serenity turned to Aurora.

"Is that the Night Fury that was with Chris?" she asked.

"Yes," said Aurora, who was clearly reading the female's mind. "Her name's Windwalker. Don't worry, there won't be a fight." Serenity breathed a sigh of relieve. She turned back to the conversation.

"Well, it doesn't look like you're getting away this time," said Toothless. Windwalker narrowed her eyes.

"Trust me, I've faced worse than this," she said. "If you're here for a rematch, reclaim your pride, or whatever; It won't work in your favor."

"ENOUGH!" Re roared as loud as he could, sparks flying out of his mouth. The world went quiet. Everyone looked at him.

"We're here for one reason," Re continued. "To find out the reason behind your attack on Berk. To do that we need to talk to your rider."

"Rider?" said Windwalker innocently. "What makes you sure I have a rider?"

"I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES!" Re snarled. "Your attack on Berk was too organized for a mere pack of dragons to perform. A human had to have planned it out. And it just so happens that our allies here saw a human on your back when the raid happened. Either tell me where he is, or I will execute you for obstruction of justice! As your king, I have a right to do so." Aurora closed her eyes in embarrassment. Windwalker's face suddenly darkened.

"If you do that, you wouldn't know the consequences of that action," she said. "You don't know what my nest and myself is capable of. Regardless if I had a rider or not, why would I help you out? Why would I give out information concerning the ones I love? What have you ever done for me? Are you suggesting that if any person were to come up to me, clad in shiny armor, I should bend over backwards for them? For folks I don't even know? Tell me, my king, have you even checked up on your so called kingdom? What are you doing to help dragons in need all around the world?"

Re was quiet at that. He looked like he wished he hadn't spoked so hastily.

"Do you wanna know why I am talking to you like this?" Windwalker continued. "It's because I don't even know you. No one in this region does. I am not even sure the whole world knows their king and queen. As far as anyone in this area is concerned, you're a stranger, a trespasser. I get informed that in the middle of the night, that some unknown group of dragons and humans land on my shores, and I should just treat them like their one of the family? No. It doesn't work that way. What if you're dangerous? I don't know what you're capable of. How do I know you won't hurt the ones I care about? I am doing what any, smart, reasonable alpha would do. So if you are accusing me of 'obstruction of justice', there would be no justice at all. For you to abuse power, would make you a tyrant, because you would be establishing yourself as the ruler of all, and destroying anything that disobeys your command. No one can rule everything. It would be too much to handle. That is why there are so many alphas. We are here to help guide dragons, to lead them. And for you to just command authority and respect from dragons that don't even know who you are, much less the title you were given, would be asking a fish to fly when he has no wings to begin with."

Everyone was dead silent.

Windwalker jumped down from the tree she was on, making everybody around her jump back defensively. All except the Draconians, who stood their ground. Serenity shuddered suddenly. Aurora put a wing around her shoulders.

"Re's not a tyrant," Serenity whispered nervously.

"No, he's nervous," said Aurora. "He can't demand authority unless the dragons want him to, and he knows that." Serenity stroked Aurora's neck. Windwalker jumped down from the tree branch and got right in Re's face.

"You want respect, you have to earn it," she snapped. "That goes for all living things be it humans or dragons." At that moment Hiccup intervened.

"We don't want to fight or anything," he said. "We just want to know why that map meant so much to you guys. I mean you could have just asked us." He pulled out a fish and tossed it to Windwalker sniffed it. She looked at Hiccup for a minuet, then looked back at the fish. She pushed it back towards him.

"I appreciate the gesture human," she said. "But I'm not hungry at the moment." Serenity translated for him.

"Keep it anyway," Hiccup said. "If I know anything about Night Furies, they're always hungry." Tenor and Toothless both rolled their eyes. Windwalker turned Toothless.

"Your human is something else, I'll say that," she said. She then turned back to Re and the Draconians. "You see, this is how one approaches. A mere human approaches me better than all four of you com..."

"Look, we're sorry," Aurora interrupted. "Cut us some slack, we're just looking for our son." Windwalker seemed to ease up.

"Oh, well why didn't you start with that?" she asked. "This could've gone a whole lot differently. I will help you as much as I can, but I haven't heard of any lost hatchlings." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"That's the thing," Re said. "Our son, is your rider." Windwalker's eyes went wide. She looked from Re to Aurora, then to Serenity. She took a deep breath.

"Well, I didn't think this day would come," she said. Her spirits seemed to lift.

"I'm sorry for being so rude," Re said.

"It's alright," said Windwalker. "I'm sorry too. Follow me, I'm sure you want to meet him."

"Absolutely," Re said. He then turned to the group. "Let's go." The riders all mounted their dragons, Serenity mounted Aurora. The dragons spread their wings and took off. They followed Windwalker further over the mountains and valleys. Serenity grew more excited and anxious, the closer they got. She took several deep breaths. Aurora was quick to notice.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Do you think he'll recognize me?" Serenity asked.

"I should think so," said Aurora. "You're his best friend."

"He doesn't exactly know I'm coming," said Serenity. "It's been ten years, and we've both grown up."

"True," said Aurora. "But I think he'll still know who you are. Not that much has changed about you; you still have the same green eyes, the same golden brown hair, the same scar on you face, and you're the only other human in the world who can talk to dragons." Serenity took another deep breath.

"Relax," said Aurora. "We're almost there." Serenity focused on staying in the saddle.

The dragons flew over the lush green landscape. Dragons flew about at their leisure. Many of them noticed the newcomers. They were curious of course. Soon Windwalker led them all towards a beautiful mountain. It was tent shaped and covered in green trees and grass. More dragons flew around it. Windwalker led them to its base and landed in front of a large tunnel entrance. Windwalker led them into the tunnel and into the mountain. The tunnel was very large and was lined with caves at various levels. Dragons occupied the caves. Some of them were attending to their eggs, and some were attending to their hatchlings.

Soon they reached the heart of the mountain. It was enormous. The floor was covered in grass, and large boulders. The walls of the mountains were lined with tunnels, caves, and ledges. There were also large holes in the top of the mountain that let in sunlight. There were more dragons in here.

"Welcome to my home," said Windwalker. "This is the trunk of out den."

"Where's Chris?" asked Aurora. "Don't get me wrong this place is beautiful but..." She was cut off by a loud roar from above. This made everyone jump and look up.

"That, would be your son," said Windwalker, sounding embarrassed. She spread her wings and took off. They followed her to a tunnel and landed on the ledge. The riders had to dismount as the tunnel was too small. They went through the tunnel.

They came out onto an evan bigger ledge. It was more than big enough for the whole group. The ledge looked out over the hills that surrounded the mountain. But Serenity wasn't paying attention to the scenery, Chris was there. He was sparring with three dragons. They were guarding a flag, and he was trying to get passed them. Serenity leaned on Tenor. Ten years of missing her friend and there he was. He had grown a lot since she last seen him. He was moving a lot, so she couldn't get a good look at him. Tenor turned to her.

"You feeling okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Serenity. She stroked his snout.

"Looks like you may just get that happy ending you've always dreamed of," Tenor said.

"Yes," said Serenity. "And last year it seamed impossible." At that moment the spar ended, Chris had achieved his goal. He grabbed the flag and yanked it out of the ground.

"Well look at you," teased Windwalker. "All big and mighty because you can retrieve a flag." Chris rolled his eyes.

"Oh, will you just shut up and let me have my victory," he said, beaming. He hugged Windwalker around the neck. After a few seconds of silence, they separated.

"There's someone here to see you Chris," said Windwalker, looking back at the visitors. Chris followed her gaze and his eyes went wide. He put the flag down, still keeping his eyes on Re and Aurora, who were just as still as he was.

"Mom? Dad?" Chris managed to choke out. Tears of relief and joy ran down his face.

"Son," Aurora answered. They managed to make their legs work and the rushed towards each other. Chris threw his arms around his parents and they threw their wings around him. No one said a word.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

After several minuets of silence, the hug ended. It lasted too long because Chris collapsed, gasping for air. Aurora lowered her head, he grabbed her horns, and she helped him to his feet. Then their came an awkward silence. Windwalker coughed. They all looked at her and she looked like she wished she hadn't made a sound. Then Re and Aurora turned back to Chris.

"So how are things?" Re asked.

"Why don't we talk more privately?" Chris said. Everyone agreed. Chris went back into the mountain. They followed him. When he reached the ledge on the inside he called to a yellow Hackatoo. She flew up to the ledge and he jumped onto her back. The riders got on their dragons and followed him to a different cave. They landed and went inside. The cave was very big and luxurious. The wall was honeycombed and various items were stored in the holes. Water dripped from a large stalactite and gathered in a large pool in one corner. In another corner was a pile of animal furs next to a patch of charred stone. In the center of the room was a large fire pit, near which was a pile of dark logs. Chris took two logs from the pile and put them into the fire pit. Windwalker ignited the wood, and the room warmed up.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," Chris said. Everyone sat around the fire. Serenity sat next to Re, and was both surprised and pleased when Chris sat next to her, Windwalker sat on his other side.

"I guess I should start by explaining how I'm sitting before you all," Chris began. They were all listening. "Well, all I remember that day was flying through the storm, it was scary." He looked at Re who had a look of pain and regret on his face again. Serenity stroked his neck, she knew this was not going to be easy.

"Dad, it wasn't your fault," Chris said. "I know you think it was, but I can assure you it wasn't. Yes, I did fall off. The rain made it too slippery to hold on." Re lowered his head, and let out a small, sad, moan.

"It was my fault," he said. "I should've made sure you were properly in my saddle."

"And you did," Chris said, sounding very reassuring. "You did what any father would do, you made sure I was out of harm's way. It was either the storm or the ambushing villagers. You were thinking rationally and chose the safer path, I don't blame you." Re suddenly became angry.

"If it wasn't for that storm..." he paused, a growl escaped from his throat. With him being as kind and noble as he was, Serenity often forgot that Re was a wild animal and that he was still as unpredictable as a lion.

"That was no one's fault by nature's," said Chris. "You had no idea the storm was going to be that violent." Re took a deep breath. Serenity stroked his cheek, it seemed to help put his mind at ease.

"How did you survive that storm?" Tenor asked.

"Well, dragons," Chris answered.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Valka. Chris turned to her.

"I don't know how it happened," he said. "I was sinking into the abyss, blacked out, woke up, and the next thing I knew a family of Sea Shockers had saved me from drowning."

"Ah, Sea Shockers," said Valka. "They're so compassionate. They saved Toothless from the freezing waters, back when I first met Hiccup." Toothless crooned uncomfortably. Hiccup stroked his dragon.

"It's okay bud," he soothed. "I'm not going anywhere." Toothless relaxed. Chris and Windwalker exchanged a glance. It seemed as though they were looking at a mirror image.

"How did you survive all the years afterwords?" asked Aurora.

"I saved him of course," said Windwalker. Chris turned on her sharpish.

"No you didn't," he said. "I save you, if I remember correctly."

"I could've easily broken out of that cage," scoffed Windwalker.

"That's why you couldn't move right?" said Chris. "The heavy, iron shackles were so weak you could have broken out at anytime."

"Darn right," said Windwalker pridefully. Everyone exchanged a confused glance.

"I'm confused," said Re.

"Okay, here's the story," said Chris. "After the Sea Shockers dropped me off at an unknown island. I looked around for shelter from the storm. After the storm was over I found berry bushes. But then I was captured by a group men who spoke a strange language. They dragged me to their camp and took me to a tent, which was obviously a forge. There they, they branded me on the back before throwing me into a cage." Serenity shuttered violently at the very thought and buried her face in her hands, she though she had had it bad getting beaten with a shovel as a child. Re put a wing around her.

"Don't worry," Chris said. "That was the only bad part. Should I continue?"

"Yes," Serenity said. She took a few deep breaths and calmed down again.

"Anyway," Chris continued. "I was in that cage for four days going in and out of consciousness. That's when I met Windwalker. She was in a cage beside mine. She was suspicious of me until she found out I could speak her language. We exchanged a few sarcastic comments. Then a guard or something came up and hit her in the head hard, then he left. I managed to claw a nail out of a crate and used it to get myself out of my restraints. Then I released Windwalker, then released all the other prisoners some were human and some were dragons. We put our heads together and formed an escape plan. We were suddenly attacked by a different guy. Windwalker took him down and I took his swords. We left the tent and put our plan into action. I found the guy who had hit Windwalker, and killed him. Then with the help of the other captured dragons we escaped, Windwalker let me ride on her back. She told the dragons to drop off the humans at a safe location. After that Windwalker brought me here. We talked the whole way about our lives and where we came from. Over these passed ten years we've become very good friends. We've become more brother and sister than just friends."

Everyone sat quietly after hearing this story. Serenity was impressed by it as well. Know she knew what had happened to him. But she still wanted to know why he didn't come home or contact them so they knew he was alive.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this," said Hiccup, braking the silence. "But that was epic." This surprised them all.

"But, now let me get to the reason I came up here," Hiccup went on. "What is so important about that map, and why did you have to raid Berk to get it?" Chris sighed.

"That, is a grave matter all on it's own," he said. He stood up and went over to his shelves. He fumbled around a bit then pulled out a scroll of parchment. He came back to the fire pit.

"This map," he said. "Is the key to our destruction. If this falls into the wrong hands, not only will this nest fall, but every dragon nest will fall as well." Re looked a bit uneasy after hearing that.

"What's so special about this map?" asked Snotlout.

"Before I get into that," said Chris. "I should first explain who my enemy is. When I first came here, most of the dragons were skeptical that a human like me, could be so kind to dragons. They became hostile until Windwalker explained what I did back at the prison camp. They were still weary of me. However, all their doubts vanished when I spoke their language and told them my story. They grew to trust me and soon opened up to me." Serenity smiled to herself. She too was familiar to the dragons' reaction when they found out she could talk to them. They were weary of her until she spoke to them in their tongue and they instantly became curious, and not a little hopeful. The fact that she could talk to dragons and that she was a dragon healer, were the reasons Berk let her stay with them.

"Windwalker decided that the best way for me to earn my keep was to help defend the nest," Chris continued.

"How?" asked Tuffnut. "I mean you're human, and your surrounded by dragons who are bigger and stronger than you."

"I asked that same question," said Chris. "Windwalker said the best way to defeat your enemy, is to think like your enemy. I was able to figure out how and where they would lay dragon traps, how, where, and when they would attack, etc. After several battles that we won they became less and less of a problem. At first it seamed like they would give up, that is until they discovered Huo yao."

"Wait, who is your enemy?" asked Tenor. "And what is huo yao?"

"Oh, sorry," Chris said, realizing he had gotten slightly off topic. "My enemy is an empire who call themselves the Song dynasty. They slaughter dragons without remorse, because apparently we mock their beliefs. Huo yao can only be described as explosive powder."

"Mock their beliefs?" said Fishlegs.

"The Song worship dragons, but of a different sort," Chris explained. "These dragons are long, and slender. They don't have wings, they have thick muzzles and long whiskers. I've never seen a dragon that matches that description. And since no dragon here comes close to fitting it, they claim us to be imposters and kill us for belittling their religion."

"You must be talking about the ancient ones of the east," said Aurora. "They were here, long before Re's grandparents were on the throne. They were part of my father's army, much like the Bewilderbeasts. They ruled this side of the world for many long years before the just, vanished."

"Explosive powder?" said Hiccup, getting the conversation back on track.

"Yes, let me show you," Chris said. He went back over to his shelves and fumbled around again. He retrieved a pouch and brought it back to the fire pit. He stood across the fire pit from Windwalker.

"You ready Windwalker?" he asked. She nodded and covered herself with her wings. Chris reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of what looked like black sawdust. He threw it towards Windwalker. When it hit the fire, it expanded and shot towards Windwalker. There was a loud boom and Windwalker was engulfed by flame and smoke. Everyone tensed up, even long after the flames retreated. Re had shielded Serenity with his fireproof wings.

"What in Odin's name was that?" asked Valka.

"That was huo yao," said Chris.

"Was that sorcery?" asked Eret.

"Believe me, I wish it was," Chris said, as he sat back down. "But I assure you, it's very real. And that was just a small amount of it, just imagine what would happen with endless amounts of it."

"Bad things would happen," Serenity said. "Very bad things." Chris looked at her, and she saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Bad things, have already happened," he said. "It's hard to fight when we can't heal a wound. That's why we don't plan full scale attacks. Once they're injured, they're out. We just can't sacrifice those numbers." Serenity became alert at this news, sound like a job for her.

"You have wounded?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," Chris said.

"Where are they?" Serenity asked. "I can help them."

"What do you..." Chris paused as something clicked in his memory. "Oh, I remember you were learning to heal before I disappeared. Are you saying you're now a fully qualified dragon healer?"

"Yes," Serenity said, she couldn't stop herself from blushing. "We're waisting time. Take me to them, and I'll get to work." Chris seemed very relieved to hear this.

"Windwalker, take her to the infirmary," he said. Serenity got to her feet and got her medical bag off Re's saddle. Windwalker lowered herself so Serenity could mount her. Serenity put the strap of her bag over her shoulder and mounted up. Windwalker spread her wings and flew out of the cave.

They flew to a different cave in the nest. This one was closer to the ground. Windwalker landed on the ledge and Serenity dismounted.

"This way," Windwalker said. She led the way into the cave. They went through a short tunnel and into the infirmary. There were about twelve dragons in there. Some were awake, and some were asleep. A few of them had limbs in splints. The ones that were awake turned to see who had entered.

"Who is this Windwalker?" asked a Shovelhelm that had pink and purple patches, and a nasty burn on her flank.

"This is Serenity," said Windwalker. "She's a dragon healer, she's here to help you." The dragons looked surprised and pleased.

"Is this the human girl Chris is always talking about?" asked a blue grey Raincutter with a splint on his right leg.

"Yes," said Windwalker.

"Well, she certainly is pretty," said a Hobblegrunt. Serenity smiled pleasantly.

"Good to know he didn't forget me," she said as took her bag off her shoulder.

"Nah," said the Shovelhelm. "I don't think he could forget about you." For once, the dragons didn't seem surprised that Serenity could talk to them.

Serenity opened her bag and got right to work. Windwalker sat on her haunches to wait and watch. Serenity went from dragon to dragon, patching up their injuries. She sang while she worked, to help keep her concentrated. The dragons warmed up to her and she got to know them by name. They didn't talk very much however, as they just wanted to hear her sing. She sang every song she knew. By the time she had sung her last song, all twelve dragons were wrapped snugly in bandages. They were feeling much better. Serenity put her supplies back into her bag and rejoined Windwalker.

"Will they be okay?" she asked.

"Stab wounds, burns, and broken bones, nothing I haven't fixed before," Serenity said, satisfied. "They're going to be just fine." Windwalker gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much Serenity," she said.

"Oh, not a problem," said Serenity. "It's about time I repaid Chris for being such a good friend, and always taking the blame for me."

"You're arrival couldn't have been more perfect," said Windwalker. "And you have a lovely voice." Serenity smiled again and stroked the black dragon's neck, making her purr.

"We should get back," Serenity said, putting the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"Oh, please don't go," said the Raincutter, named Rainier. "You're the first and only healer we've had."

"Don't worry, I'll come back," Serenity assured them. "Someone has to tell Chris the good news." She adjusted her hat.

"He'll be very happy," said Windwalker. "He really missed you."

"I missed him," said Serenity. "Very much." Windwalker lowered herself and Serenity mounted her. Serenity turned to her patients

"Get some rest," she said. "I'll be back." Windwalker spread her wings and flew out of the infirmary.

They went back to the cave where the others were. Windwalker flew in and landed, Serenity dismounted. Chris turned to them, expectation and hope in his eyes.

"How are the dragons?" he asked. "Are they okay?"

"They will live to see another day," Serenity said. Chris beamed, and pulled her into a strong embrace. Serenity was surprised, but pleased. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you Serenity," he whispered in her ear. "You have no idea what it means to me, having you back in my life. And, now you heal all our wounded. You're so compassionate. And I missed you so much." They pulled apart, but not very far. They still had their arms around each other.

"The same could be said about you," Serenity said. "Except for the part about healing the wounded." She chuckled quietly. Normally, she would have stepped back by now, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She found herself lost in his eyes. She was very happy that he was still her best friend. However, she felt something a bit stronger than friendship towards him. She didn't know what it was, she had never had a feeling like this towards anyone ever. The feeling was there one second, then Aurora cleared her throat and it was gone. They stepped back and turned to face the group.

"Anyway," Chris said, picking up a conversation Serenity had clearly missed. "I actually attacked a Song base, that was chock full of huo yao. And the fire was spectacular."

"Oh, I get it," said Eret. "Your drying them out by destroying their supply of huo yao."

"Then when they try to make more, they don't have all the ingredients," said Fishlegs. "Leaving them defenseless."

"Thus putting an end to the war," Hiccup finished off. Chris looked pleased.

"Well, you guys think fast," he said. Serenity turned to him.

"What's going on?" she asked. Chris looked at her again.

"We'll explain on the way," he said, brushing a finger under her chin before mounting Windwalker.

"And where are we going?" asked Astrid, suspiciously.

"We're going to train of course," Chris answered, in a very good mood. "I can't have my new allies being all weak and confused, now can I." Windwalker spread her wings and shot out the door. The others mounted their dragons, Serenity mounted Aurora, and followed.

"You actually this guy?" Astrid asked Serenity.

"I take it you don't," Serenity said.

"Well, he hasn't really done anything to make me trust him," Astrid said.

"Did he not apologize for attacking you?" Serenity asked.

"He did," said Astrid.

"Then, he's not really a bad guy," said Serenity.

"You have a point," Astrid said. At that point they arrived at the place Chris and Windwalker had landed. All the dragons landed and the riders dismounted. Serenity stood between Aurora and Windwalker.

"Since you all graciously agreed to be soldiers in this war," Chris said. "You all will need to learn some basic training, except for Serenity who will be busy healing dragons." Windwalker seemed surprised.

"Really, you've agreed to help us?" she asked Aurora.

"Yes," the queen replied. "Not just for Chris's sake, but for the sake of all these dragons."

"So, you're all going to war?" Serenity asked. Both dragons were quick to notice that she wasn't happy about it.

"It's part of our responsibility," said Aurora. When she saw that that didn't make her feel better, she nuzzled her gently. Serenity hugged her head.

"It'll be okay," the queen. "I can foresee that Chris will have a plan, and it has a very good chance of working." Serenity took a deep breath.

"You don't like war do you?" said Windwalker.

"Is there a reason I should?" Serenity asked, wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.

"Well, I agree it's not a good thing," said Windwalker. "But it's necessary sometimes." Aurora took down Serenity's folding chair and set it down.

"You should sit down," she said. "We're going to be here a while." Serenity sat down. She turned her attention back to what Chris was doing. He was unrolling a big burlap sack. It was full of different kinds of weapons. He pulled out two, one looked like a regular sword and the other looked like a cross between a machete and a cutlass.

"This is a jian," Chris said, holding up the first sword. "And this is a dao." he held up the second. "The jian is lightweight and swift, while the dao is stronger but slower." He set those down and picked up what looked like a javelin.

"I assume you know what this is," he said.

"I know," said Tuffnut. "It's a spear, but it looks thinner than mine."

"Good," said Chris. "But around here it's called a qiang. I'm sure you all know how to work one, except for the dragons." Then he spun round and threw the qiang at one of the wooded dummies that were placed around the clearing. It stabbed the dummy right in the chest. There was a sound of splintering wood and the end of the qiang swung back and forth rapidly before becoming still.

"Are you trying to impress us, because it's not working," boasted Snotlout.

"Trust me, that's nothing compared to what else I have in here," Chris said. He then took out two identical metal wheels that looked like a pair of small silver suns.

"I present to you the wind and fire wheels," Chris said. "With one wheel in each hand, the wielder can slash, stab, parry, or disarm his opponent."

"Those look dumb," scoffed Snotlout.

"Really? You think so?" Chris challenged. "Prove it then, show me what you got." He took a fighting stance. Snotlout pulled out his hammer and charged at Chris, who was ready. Serenity watched Chris dance around Snotlout, slashing at him with the wheels. Then suddenly Snotlout's clothes fell off, Serenity covered her eyes with her hat. Then she heard the flapping of wings and she lifted her hat to see Hookfang fly off with Snotlout. Everyone was laughing, Chris merely looked amused.

"That's why you don't underestimate these bad boys," he boasted. He put the wheels away and pulled out another item. It was a long rope with a metal spike on the end. He also took out what looked like a stone shot put ball. He put that in his pocket before continuing

"What I'm hold before you is called a rope dart," he said. He then demonstrated the weapon, by swinging it hither and thither at high speed and with expert coordination. Serenity though he might whip himself by accident, but he didn't. Even though she was anti-weapon, she couldn't help but be impressed. At the end of that demonstration, Chris grabbed the metal spike.

"But what makes this weapon even more dangerous," he said. "Is when it becomes a meteor hammer." He took the metal spike off the end of the rope and tossed it aside. Then he took out the shot put and attached it to the rope. He began whirling it about and slamming it into the ground or into another dummy. Then the twins started arguing over the weapon.

"If you want it so bad, come and take it from me," Chris challenged. The Twins instantly rushed at him, their spears at the ready. Chris seemed very confident as he took on two opponents at once. He swung the meteor hammer at them. Serenity watched him, not really paying attention to the match. The feeling she had had earlier came back. She still couldn't name it. She was concentrating so hard on it that, before she knew it, the matched was over with Chris coming out victorious. The Twins came back to the group, severely winded. Chris coiled up the meteor hammer and put it away.

"One more weapon to show you guys," he said. He had taken on three opponents so far, and he wasn't even the slightest out of breath. He pulled out the last weapon. It looked like a spear with a huge blade instead of an arrowhead.

"The guandao," he said. "It's useful for sweeping cuts." He spun it, the blade made a slicing sound as it cut the air. Serenity flinched slightly, the blade looked very sharp. Just then Astrid stepped up for a turn, reading her ax. Serenity paid no attention to the back and forth banter, she was far too anxious that someone was going to get hurt. She pulled her medical into her lap, happy that she'd remembered to bring it from the infirmary. Aurora turned her attention from the match.

"I don't see anyone getting hurt," she said. "It's okay, just breathe." Serenity hadn't realized was holding her breath, and exhaled. She leaned back in her chair and watched the match. Chris won yet again.

"I will admit, you're an excellent fighter," he said, putting the quandao with it's fellow weapons. "Keep it up, and you might surpass me on day." Astrid picked up her ax and went to stand next to Stormfly.

"Who's next?" Chris asked, somehow he still was even starting to tire out. Hiccup then stepped up to bat, pulling out Inferno.

"I'm not like the others, you know," he said.

"Oh, I know," Chris said. "That's probably why you're chief, you had to distinguish yourself some how." He pulled out his twin swords, and readied himself yet again.

"I won't go easy on you just because you're the leader," Chris said. "And if you're going to fight me you'll need a weapon." He eyeballed Hiccup's small frame, and metal leg. Hiccup then whipped the burning blade out of the sword hilt. Chris was slightly taken aback by this, but kept his stance.

"This'll be interesting," he said, more to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Chris ran at Hiccup, the blade of his swords flashed in the sunlight. Hiccup stepped to the side, twirling Inferno. The two danced around each other, swiping their swords at each other. Once Chris tripped Hiccup, failing to notice the green gas coming out of Inferno.

"Don't make such sloppy moved," Chris criticized.

"I wouldn't call Zippleback gas sloppy," said Hiccup. He pushed a button on Inferno, igniting the gas. It made an explosion even bigger that the huo yao did earlier. It sent Chris back ten feet, causing him to drop his swords. Serenity flinched, be relaxed when Chris came out unscathed.

Suddenly Serenity was distracted by Tenor. He was looking at Windwalker. She would noticed and he would look the other way. Then when he wasn't looking, she would eyeball him. Serenity was very interested in this. Tenor had been looking for a mate all his life. He'd asked almost every female dragon, except a Night Fury. Serenity hoped that there was a happily every after in store for him as well. She made a mental note to herself to ask Tenor about this, after the matches, but before everyone left for war. She leaned back in her chair and watch as Chris defeated Hiccup.

"I will say that blade of yours it a fine piece of work," Chris said. "But it has one flaw, the fuller is missing. But you made up for it with fire and Zippleback gas. Still if I can disarm you, so can they." He helped Hiccup to his feet. Hiccup picked up Inferno and put it away. He went back to the group. Toothless seemed all too pleased. Chris took a huge breath before talking.

"Thank you for showing me how you fight," he said. "Although you would easily be killed by the Song soldiers, there is still hope for you."

"What now?" asked Valka.

"Now, we wait," said Chris. "I have an inside man who gives me information on what the Song is up to."

"Inside man," said Eret. "How'd you get him to betray his nation."

"He didn't betray his nation," Chris explained. "He was never apart of it. He was originally a farmer. All he had was his crops and his family, a wife and daughter. Then the Song took over his region, burned his crops, and killed his family. They captured him and made him a slave. He was pretty rebellious. The guards wanted to kill him, but their commanding officer decided to make him a foot solider. When I confronted him in a raid a while back, he actually begged me to kill him. Instead, I figured he would be more useful as a spy behind enemy lines."

"Wow, you've exceeded all the expectations I had of you," Aurora said beaming with pride.

"Th-thanks," Chris stammered. He blushed. "I used a mixture of the fighting skills you, Dad, and Uncle Tenor taught me along with fighting skills I've learned over the years. I'm practically unstoppable now."

"Really?" said Tenor. "Unstoppable you say."

"Well, I haven't met one person who could stop me," Chris said.

"What about dragon?" Re asked.

"Come on Dad, when you saw me a few hours ago I was sparring with three dragons," said Chris. "Powerful ones."

"But, they weren't your dad and me," Tenor said, swishing his tail back and forth. Serenity sighed sadly. She knew what the two of them were working up to. Chris seemed to be thinking the same thing, because his face now bore a look of recognition and shock.

"Come on guys," he said. "I don't want to hurt you, especially at a time like..."

"HA!" Tenor said loudly, pawing the ground. "Like you'll actually land a blow on me." He pranced on the spot. Re seemed just as enthusiastic.

"What you say?" he said. "Care for a match with the two of us."

"Fine," said Chris. "Just know that I won't take it easy on you." The two dragons readied themselves. Windwalker turned to Aurora.

"What is it with males and them always trying to prove they're best at everything?" she asked. Aurora yawned.

"I don't know," she said. "And I for one, will not get involved." Serenity watched nervously as Chris and the two dragons faced each other. Aurora turned to her.

"You're not going to run out in the middle of the spar are you?" she asked. Serenity let out a breath she had been holding.

"No, I won't," she said.

"No matter what happens?" asked Aurora.

"I promise," Serenity said. Aurora smiled, satisfied.

"Run out in the middle of the spar?" said Windwalker, curious.

"During sparring matches, whenever someone was knocked to the floor, I would run out and see if they were injured," Serenity explained. "Even if the match wasn't over."

"And you'd usually be at risk of getting hurt or killed by accident," finished Aurora.

"Re said he'd lock me in his dungeons if I did it again," said Serenity.

"He means it?" asked Windwalker.

"Yes," said Aurora. "We don't want anything to happen to her."

"What do think would happen to them?" asked Windwalker.

"Back when Chris and I were kids," Serenity said. "He would often get knocked off a dragon's back and I didn't know if he'd hurt his head or something."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore," Windwalker said. "He's a real tough opponent."

"Yes," Serenity agreed. Aurora nuzzled her shoulder. Then they turned their attention to the match.

Tenor charged at Chris, gnashing his black teeth. Chris dodged him and slashed his swords at him. He had cut the leather straps of his armor. Tenor was now faced with having to remove his armor. Luckily for him Chris was distracted by Re, sneaking up behind him. The king pounced at Chris, claws fully extended. Chris spun round and blocked him with his swords. Re then flew over Chris and hurried to help Tenor get his armor off, leaving his crown on. The second they finished they had to dodge Chris's swords again. He tried to cut off Re's armor, but he was quick to catch on. He fought back with claws and fire. Chris slashed his swords. Unfortunately, he was so fixated of Re that he forgot about to watch out for Tenor. The hybrid smacked him with his tail. Chris sailed through the air several feet away from the two dragons. He jumped to his feet in a flash and ran at them. Tenor shot plasma blasts at Chris, which were dodged. Tenor then pounced on him and pined him to the ground. Chris threw down his swords and punched Tenor's paw. Tenor roared in shock and fell over. Chris jumped to his feet. He punched certain spots on Tenor's left hind leg, making him go limp.

Serenity was about to get up, but Aurora held her back with her tail.

"He's okay," the Queen said. "He's not hurt." Serenity leaned back in her chair.

"What'd you do to Tenor?" Re asked. "He can't move."

"I'm surprised you don't know," Chris said, only now starting to sound out of breath. "Considering all the dragon anatomy books there are back at home." Serenity was surprised at this.

"I thought I was the only one read those," she said, mostly to herself.

"You dragons have a lot of pressure points," Chris said. He then connected his swords at the hilts, creating a sword staff. "Time to move this along. I told you not to underestimate me, and look where it got Tenor. Don't worry, he'll be able to move in about thirty five minuets." Re beamed with pride. Then they turned their attention back to fighting. Serenity watched for a while.

Chris was soon able to pin Re to the ground, remembering to also pin down his tail. Suddenly there came a commotion from the two Night Furies. Toothless pounced on Windwalker, who sent him flying into a tree. She then pinned him down and held a talon to his throat. Chris got off Re, and Re got to his feet.

"I told you once and I'll tell you again," Windwalker hissed. "Don't start something you can't finish, unless you want to die in front of your friends." Chris approached them, concerned.

"Let him go Windwalker," he said. "There's no need for unwanted bloodshed." Windwalker turned to the group.

"I wouldn't say unwanted," she said. "He provoked me."

"You called my rider weak," said Toothless.

"You indirectly called me heartless based on prejudice first," Windwalker said. "And I told you to stop worrying, what exactly did I do wrong?"

"I don't care who provoked who," Re barked, standing at his full height. "Let him go Windwalker, or we'll leave and you'll be declared an enemy of both Berk and Draconia." Windwalker growled, but then released Toothless.

"As much as want to put you in your place, this war is my top priority," she said. "I need reinforcements, including you. Be grateful your king saved you." She spread her wings and took off. Serenity breathed a sigh of relief. Toothless got to his feet and turned to Re.

"Thank you, your majesty," he said.

"Is it true, you called her heartless?" Re asked firmly.

"No sire," Toothless said. "I said I cared about my friends, unlike her."

"And on what grounds do have the right to say that?" Re asked sternly.

"I, I," Toothless stammered.

"As I expected," Re said. "You have no proof that she's anything of the sort. I understand that you don't trust her and I don't blame you. But don't act on such paranoia. You're an alpha, and a very good one. A judgmental leader is never a good leader. You know what you have to do to set things right, and I suspect you'll want to do that right when she gets back."

"Yes sire," Toothless said.

"Anyway, why don't we go inside and cool off," Chris said, who was leaning on his sword.

"What about Tenor?" asked Aurora. "We can't just leave him there." Serenity turned to look at Tenor. He was still laying in the grass looking bored and miserable.

"I'll keep him company until he can move again," Serenity volunteered. Chris looked at her.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes," Serenity said. "I'll be okay. It's only for thirty five minuets like you said. I've healed your friends and I have nothing else to do."

"Alright, be safe," Chris said. They smiled at each other for a few minuets. Then the riders got on their dragons, Chris mounted Re, and they all took off. Serenity watched them go. Then she turned to Tenor. He seemed pleased that she was staying behind.

"Thank you," he said. Serenity took her hat off and sat beside him. Tenor must have seen the far away look on her face.

"Is there something on your mind my dear?" he asked.

"No," Serenity said, a bit too quickly. Tenor raised one eyebrow. But then his mind seemed to shift gears.

"Man, I'm so glad Chris is back in our lives," he said. "I thought he was gone for good. You agree?"

"Yes," Serenity said. "I am happy that he's back. And now that he is, I don't want to lose him. But now I have to let him go to war." Her voice broke and she sniffed. Tenor gave her a look of sympathy.

"I know war isn't your favorite thing," he said. "But it's something we have to do, not just for Chris's sake but for the sake of the dragons." Serenity let out a shaky breath. She pulled out her handkerchief out and dabbed at here eyes.

"I know," she said. "Chris means so much to me. He was my only human friend at Draconia. When he was lost at sea my heart was torn wide open. It was like losing Ruby all over again. I felt so alone, all my friends were gone. But that didn't mean I was going to give up on being a dragon healer. Chris and I planned to travel the world and help dragons, he would fight the bad guys and I'd heal the dragon. I did that for him. I didn't fight of course, but I helped any dragon I could." She put a hand over her hidden locket. Tenor didn't seem at all surprised to hear this.

"You really care about him," he said, it wasn't a question. Serenity nodded, and wiped eyes again.

"Yes," she said. "After ten years of being separated, I'm glad we're still friends. But now I have a slightly different feeing towards him, that I can't put a name on. Never felt this way about anyone, not even the dragons."

"Hmm, I think I know what it is," Tenor said. Serenity looked at him. "You're in love with him." Serenity almost choked on her next words.

"In love," she said. Tenor seemed amused.

"Sure," he said, with a small chuckle.

"Never felt that kind of love," Serenity said. "Do you think he feels the same about me?"

"Oh, yes," Tenor said. "I know he does. He was awful happy to see you again. But there is a way to 100% positive, tell him." Serenity took a deep breath.

"What if he doesn't feel the same way about me?" she asked. "And what if Windwalker doesn't like it."

"Well, there's not much she can do," said Tenor. "If she doesn't like it, that's her problem." Serenity paused for a second. Then she smiled at him.

"You like her, don't you?" she said. Tenor's eyes went wide, and he pinned his ears back bashfully."

"What're you talking about?" he asked.

"You know what I'm talking about," Serenity said. "I saw you looking at her earlier." Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"Fine," he said. "I feel something towards her, it maybe love it may not. And I swear if you tell anyone..."

"You don't have to threaten me Tenor," Serenity interrupted. "I won't tell anyone."

"Sorry," Tenor said. He shifted as much as he could. He groaned.

"Can you walk yet?" Serenity asked.

"No," said Tenor. Serenity stroked his snout. Then she hugged his head.

"Do you have to go?" she asked. Tenor purred.

"Yes I do," he said. "I'm the best fighter of the three, they need me." Serenity sighed sadly.

"I wish that just one of you guys could stay," she said.

"We're coming back," Tenor said. "We're not going away forever."

"It's war," Serenity said. "Bad things always happen in war." Tenor nuzzled her.

"It'll be okay," he said. "We're coming back." Serenity wasn't convinced. She still had faith in her friends, but she was very scared for them. She used her handkerchief to wipe her eyes again.

"I'm scared Tenor," she confessed. She knew she could tell Tenor anything, and she had promised him that she would.

"I know you are," he said. "But you're not going to lose us, none of us. And you'll never be alone." Serenity took several deep breaths and calmed back down.

Soon the thirty five minuets were up. Serenity got to her feet and stretched. Tenor followed suit. He stretched his wings, then flapped them a few times. Serenity picked up her hat and put it on. Tenor then turned to her.

"Thank you, I really appreciate you staying behind," he said, nuzzling her face. She stroked his snout again.

"You're welcome," Serenity said. She sniffed and wiped her eyes yet again.

"Oh, please stop crying," Tenor said. "Everything will be okay, we will come back to you." Serenity sighed.

"Sorry," she said.

"It's okay," Tenor said. "Now let's get you back." Serenity mounted him and they took off.

Tenor flew her back to the infirmary and landed. She dismounted.

"Go check on you patients, make sure they're doing okay," Tenor said.

"Where are you going?" Serenity asked.

"I'm going to find Windwalker, and talk to her," Tenor said. "Find out if she hates me or not." Serenity stroked his neck.

"You're a great dragon Tenor," she said. "She'll like you just fine."

"You plan to do talk to Chris?" Tenor asked. Serenity shrugged.

"If I get a chance," she said. "I mean he's really busy and I'm really busy." Tenor murmured in agreement. Then he spread his wings and flew off. Serenity went into the infirmary. Some of the wounded dragons were sleeping, and some were awake. The Hobblegrunt, Hobbs, beamed.

"Yay! You're back," he said. Serenity smiled.

"How's everyone doing?" she asked.

"We're doing much better," said Rainier. "Some of these dragons are finally sleeping without pain."

"Well, that's wonderful to hear," Serenity said. She took off her hat and set beside her bag, which had been brought up by someone, along with her camping gear. She checked the injury of each dragon. They were healing nicely. She finished up with a red and grey Windstriker named Quigley, who had an injured wing. He woke up as Serenity checked his wound.

"Will I fly again?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Serenity said. "You'll fly again, in a few days." Quigley smiled sleepily.

"Are the others okay too?" he asked. Serenity nodded.

"They'll be fine," she said.

"Are you going with the others?" asked Hobbs.

"No," Serenity said. "I'm a healer, not a fighter."

"Well, that's a first," said a Thunderclaw named Vyn. "You're probably the only human I've ever seen who has no interest in fighting, at all." Serenity smiled as she got to her feet.

"You going away again?" asked Rainier.

"No," said Serenity. "But I'm going to be here for a few days, I'll need somewhere to sleep." She picked up her tent.

"Why don't you sleep on the ground like us?" asked Hobbs.

"I do," said Serenity. "But human skin is a lot thinner than dragon skin, laying on the ground is hard and painful on a human backbone." She rolled out her tent. The dragons watched in fascination.

"Are you guys going?" Serenity asked, while she worked.

"Nah," they all said in unison.

"There will be a few other dragons who are staying to behind," said Quigley. "Mostly mother dragons who have hatchling or unhatched eggs." Serenity finished setting up her tent, then grabbed her bed roll and sleeping bag.

"Oh, that's cool," said Rainier. "It's a portable cave."

"Yes," said Serenity. "Never looked at it that way, but yes."

"What do you humans call it?" asked Hobbs.

"A tent," Serenity said. "Humans actually haven't invented it yet. But Queen Aurora can see into the future and see the things humans will invent, then the dragons can invent it first. Draconia is very advanced and prosperous because of it."

"Cool," said Vyn. "Chris said the Queen has magic, like Lord Draco himself."

"What else did Chris tell you?" Serenity asked as she set up her chair. She sat down.

"He told us about how the King and Queen found him," said Vyn. "What it was like being the only human in the country, how lonely it was until you came."

"Yeah, Chris talked about you, a lot," said Hobbs. "He said he first time he saw you, you were badly beaten and trembling." Serenity winced at the memory. She was about to explain, when a dragon landed outside and Windwalker came in. Serenity was slightly disappointed that neither Chris or Tenor were behind her.

"How's everything going?" she asked.

"We're fine ma'am," said Quigley. "This girl's amazing." He pointed at talon at Serenity. Windwalker turned to her.

"How'd it go with Tenor?" Serenity asked. Windwalker pinned her ears back.

"It went well," she said. "He's a very nice dragon."

"So, you don't hate him for looking different?" Serenity asked.

"Of course not," said Windwalker. "I was weary of him at first, but only because he's a stranger and not because he looks different. And I certainly don't hate him." Serenity beamed.

"You're just in time, Serenity was about to tell her side of when she and Chris met," said Rainier.

"As much as I'd love to hear it," said Windwalker. "I have other things to do." She turned to leave.

"You're the first dragon who wasn't interested in it," Serenity said. Windwalker looked surprised.

"It's not that I'm not interested," she said. "I just don't have time at the moment." She turned to leave again.

"When are you leaving?" Serenity asked, tears flooded her eyes.

"Well," said Windwalker, sitting on her haunches. "We're going to meet our spy tonight, and Chris has a plan already. So I'm thinking either tomorrow or the next day."

"Oh," said Serenity sadly. "So soon." Windwalker looked at her, concerned.

"You shouldn't worry about your friends," she said. "They have good potential. I'm confident they'll survive."

"But the way Chris talked about this enemy," said Serenity. "They sound impossible to defeat."

"Nothing's impossible," said Windwalker gently. "The Song are powerful, but not very smart or well organized, plus they still can't fly. This mission will be easy, very easy."

"How long will you be gone?" Serenity asked.

"Two weeks max," said Windwalker. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet up with Chris and the others." She walked out the door and took off. Serenity turned back to the other dragons.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Serenity finished setting up her camp sight. The dragons watched her quietly. More of the dragons were awake by now. Finally Serenity sat in her chair.

"So, how did you meet Chris?" asked Quigley. Serenity sighed.

"It's been a while since I told this story," she said. "I met Chris he same day I arrived in Draconia. I had spent the first five years being abused by my original family. They didn't see me as one of them. They only kept me so they could abuse me. I was very alone, and didn't know what love was. Then I met my guardian dragon, Ruby. He took pity on me, he decided to stick around and be my friend. When my family saw that I wasn't being affected as much, they decided that since I wouldn't send Ruby away then they would get rid of me. They said they were going to punish me for being friends with a dragon." She paused and scrunched her face up in pain at the memory.

"What did they do?" asked the Shovelhelm, Boona.

"They beat me up," Serenity said, her voice broke. "Violently. They hit me with their hands and feet, and with a shovel. Then they threw me into the muddy street, in the rain. Ruby came back from hunting and found me. When the rain stopped he took me far from that terrible place, and brought be to Draconia. He introduced me to the king and queen, and shortly after that I met Chris. He's my best friend, and the one human I'm not afraid of."

"Wow!" said Rainier. "All Chris said was that you came to the castle all bloody and bruised."

"That I certain was," said Serenity. "It took a long time before I recovered from all those injuries. That memory still haunts me too."

"That's terrible," said Vyn.

"Chris also said Ruby was lost," said Hobbs. Serenity nodded.

"I was seven years old," she said. "Ruby and I were flying through a dense fog. Ruby clipped his wing on the side of a mountain and he crashed into a huge, dense thorn bush. He managed to shove me out of the way in the nick of time. But he, he crashing into the thorns. When he came out he was badly injured, he'd broken every bone in his body plus got stabbed by the thorns. The healer dragons tried to save him, but there was nothing they could do. Ruby was too badly damaged and in a lot of pain. They had no choice but to end his suffering. He died, with me in his arms." The dragons looked at each other sadly.

"We're very sorry," said Boona tenderly. "How did you cope?"

"Chris," Serenity said. "Losing Ruby was painful, but it would have been a lot worse if it weren't for him. He gave me this." She pulled out her dragon scale locket. It gleamed in the dim light.

"It's made out of Ruby's scales and holds a picture of both Ruby and Chris," she said.

"Wow, now that's a good friend," said Quigley.

"Yes," Serenity said. "When Chris was lost at sea, I felt so alone, like all my friends were gone. All I had was this locket."

"No wonder you're so nervous about this war," said Rainier. Serenity sighed, clutching her locket.

"If I lose these guys I don't know what I'm going to do," she said. Hobbs got to his feet and limped over to her. He turned a soft pink color. He nudged her gently.

"Don't worry, our militia is strong," he said. "And Windwalker is very smart and stubborn, she'll make sure your friends get back safely." Serenity stroked his snout.

"Is this what motivated your occupation?" asked Vyn. Serenity nodded.

"Saving lives means a lot more to me than fighting," she said. The dragons all smiled.

"You've had a rough life," said Rainier. It wasn't a question.

"You going to see them off?" asked Boona. Serenity sighed.

"I might as well," she said.

"So, what should we do while they're away?" asked Hobbs.

"You guys have to rest," said Serenity. "You're pretty badly hurt, all of you."

"Well, maybe you can tell us all about the good times you had with Chris," said Vyn.

"Sure," said Serenity. "It's all just a happy blur right now. But it'll all come back to me."

"And we can show you around this place," said Rainier, excitedly. "You'll love it." Serenity smiled. Then Quigley changed the subject.

"Say, do you think you and Chris will be mates?" he asked. Serenity's eyes went wide. She knew someone was going to ask this question. She pressed the tips of her fingers together, thinking.

"Maybe," she said, after a while. "First things first, he has to survive this war."

"He's been surviving it," Vyn pointed out.

"It's not over yet though," said Serenity.

"But it is very close," said Rainier. "I feel it." Serenity smiled wider, reassured for the moment.

Just then there came a moan from the back of the cave. The dragons turned to see who had made the sound. It turned out to be a young Wyvern with blue scales that had several burns on his body and a head wound. Serenity got up and took her bag over to him, and knelt down. She gently stroked his neck. He opened his eyes.

"Hi," Serenity said, in her softest voice. "What's wrong? What hurts?"

"My head," the Wyvern moaned. Serenity reached into the bag and pulled out a few items. Then she examined his head. All the while she spoke to him.

"It's Atha right?" she asked.

"Yes," said the Wyvern. He swayed his forked tail back and forth. Serenity rewrapped his head and gave him painkillers. She then put Night Fury saliva on his burns.

"What is that stuff?" asked Atha.

"It's Night Fury saliva," said Serenity. "It kills infections and reduces swelling. It's a recent discovery."

"I didn't know Night Fury had healing properties," said Rainier. "I don't think Windwalker even knew."

"That's a shame," Serenity said. "It really does wonders." She stroked Atha's neck. She finished up and put her things away.

"Is that better?" she asked.

"Yes," said Atha. "Thank you." Serenity went back to her chair. She leaned back and sighed.

Serenity checked the dragons' injuries every once in a while, making sure none of them were in pain. When the sun went down she made sure they were all sleeping comfortably, before turning in herself.

The next day she came out of her tent to find all her patients still sleeping. She checked their wounds again. They were healing very nicely. After that she sat back in her chair and rummaged through her saddle bags, looking for food. She found a golden apple. She leaned back in her chair and munched on it. The cave was reasonably quiet. The only sounds were the dragons snoring and the sounds coming from outside. Then a dragon landed outside, and Windwalker came in.

"Good morning," she said.

"Hello," Serenity said, chewing a piece of apple. "You all leaving today?"

"This evening," said Windwalker. Just then Vyn woke up.

"Hey Windwalker, you missed a really intense story yesterday," he said. "Serenity had a hard life."

"I'm well aware," said Windwalker. "Chris told me." She turned to Serenity.

"He told you about Ruby?" Serenity asked.

"Yes," said Windwalker. "I know it can be hard losing a friend or family member."

"It's not just hard, it's painful," said Serenity. "But Lord Draco saw my hard work as a dragon healer, and he decided to give Ruby back to me." Both Vyn and Windwalker looked surprised.

"You forgot to mention that yesterday," said Vyn.

"Sorry," Serenity said.

"I didn't know Draco did favors for humans," said Windwalker.

"Well, he couldn't ignore my services," Serenity said. "Even though I ask for no reward. I'm happy to help the dragons."

"How many dragons have you helped?" asked Windwalker. Serenity considered.

"No idea," she said. "I've helped most of Berk's dragons, I've helped many wild dragons in the area around Berk, I've even helped the royal dragons."

"Wow," said Windwalker. "You and Chris both do an awful lot for us." Serenity blushed and smiled.

"I guess we were doing exactly what we planned to do," she said. "Only were doing it miles apart." Serenity finished her apple. She looked at the core, not sure what to do with it.

"Hey, throw that over here," said Vyn. Serenity threw him the apple core. He swallowed it and laid back down.

"You going to come see us off?" asked Windwalker. Serenity nodded. She got nervous again. She twiddled her thumbs.

"Say, who's going to be in charge while you're all away?" asked Vyn.

"I'll leave Willow," said Windwalker. "She volunteered."

"Oh, lovely," said Vyn.

"Well, I have to get going," said Windwalker said. "I'm teaching Tenor and Toothless a new trick." Vyn moaned.

"Why're always leaving?" he asked. "I heard that Re and Aurora visit all the cities in Draconia and stay there for a few days."

"They haven't had a war to end," Windwalker pointed out. "Not until now at least." She turned towards the door and took off.

"Who's Willow?" Serenity asked.

"She's Atha's older sister," said Vyn. "I guess she doesn't want to go anywhere without him."

"She's a Wyvern," said Serenity.

"Oh, yes," said Vyn. Suddenly another dragon landed outside. It was Re. Serenity smiled when he came in.

"Hi Re," she said, cheerfully.

"Hello my dear," Re said. He lowered his head and she stroked his snout.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me," she said.

"Of course not," Re said. "Chris and Windwalker have been keeping us busy while we wait for sundown. Aurora fixed Tenor's armor." More of the wounded dragons woke up.

"Hello your majesty," said Rainier. "It's an honer to have you in our humble infirmary." Re beamed.

"Will you stay for a while?" asked Vyn. Re sighed.

"I would love to," he said. "But, I'm only here because we're leaving soon and I'm here to bring Serenity outside."

"Man, no one ever stays here for very long," said Quigley. "They always come and then just leave."

"I'm coming back," said Serenity, standing up.

"Besides," said Re. "The sooner we go, the sooner we can put Chris's plan into action, the sooner we finish this war, the sooner we'll come back and the sooner you'll be free." This gave the dragons a hopeful look. Serenity mounted him and they flew off.

They landed on a ledge with the others. Serenity dismounted and Re joined the group. The ledge overlooked a squadron of at least a thousand dragons, in various sizes, shapes, colors, and builds. Serenity leaned on the side of the mountain and watched them all gather. Once everyone was present and accounted for, Windwalker let out a roar and everyone quieted down. Chris began his loud, inspirational speech. Serenity didn't hear a word, she was too distracted by him. She thought back to when they were younger. Chris had only been a boy then. Now he was a man, leading a squadron of dragons into battle. He rode a Night Fury, and could fight with a sword. Serenity hoped nothing bad happened to him. Then her mind went to the locked cabinet in her room, filled with fairy tales. But she shut that out. This was no fairy tale yet.

When he finished his speech Chris got off Windwalker and turned to Serenity. She felt her heart skip a beat. She walked closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back. They held each other for a long time, before Serenity finally spoke.

"Please be careful Chris," she all but begged. "You're my best friend, and I don't want to lose you again." Chris tightened his grip on her. Then he pulled back, but kept his arms around her.

"Don't worry Serenity," he said. "I will come back to you, I promise. This isn't like the last time." Serenity smiled. Something in his eyes assured her. Then Windwalker growled impatiently. Chris and Serenity realized they had been leaning towards each other. They pulled back and ended their embrace.

"I'll try to treat any minor injuries," Chris said. "I'll send for you if it's serious." Serenity nodded.

"Good luck," she said. They hugged each other once last time. Then Chris mounted Windwalker and they all took off. The squadron followed, the air filled with the thunder of flapping wings. Serenity watched them fly away, her eyes filled with tears. She clutched her locket tight in her fist. Just then she was approached by a brown Wyvern that was bigger than Atha. Though Serenity hadn't met this dragon, she knew who it was.

"You must be Willow," she said.

"Yes," said Willow. "How's Atha?"

"He's recovering," said Serenity. "He's going be just fine." Willow sighed with relief.

"I'm eternally grateful to you Serenity," she said. "Atha's the only family I have. Our mother was killed by the Song. Windwalker let us stay here as long as we helped defeat the Song."

"I'm very sorry," Serenity said softly. "Is that why you volunteered to stay behind?"

"Yes," said Willow. "I just can't bare to leave him." Serenity stroked her neck.

"Would you like to see him?" Serenity asked. "It would really help him feel better." Willow beamed.

"Of course," she said. "I give you a ride down there." Serenity mounted her. She spread her enormous wings and took off.

They flew back to infirmary. They landed and Serenity dismounted. They went inside and found most of the dragons were awake. They smiled when Serenity sat in her chair. Willow went over to Atha and laid next to him.

"They just left," Serenity said, feeling sad again. The dragons exchanged a glance.

"We understand how you feel," said Rainier. "Our friends are fighting too." Serenity smiled.

"It's going to be a long two weeks," said Quigley. "We'd better find something to do."

"Maybe Willow can show Serenity around," Hobbs suggested. "There's a lot to see."

"I don't think she wants to leave Atha's side," said Serenity. "And I'm not going to force her."

"It's alright Serenity," said Willow. "Windwalker gave me a job to do. I'll have plenty of time to visit Atha." Serenity turned to the younger Wyvern, who was just waking up. When he saw Willow his face spread into a huge smile.

"Willow! You stayed," he exclaimed. He nuzzled her, and she nuzzled him back.

"Of course I did," said Willow. "There's been enough death in this family."

"Thank you," said Atha.

"But, Windwalker also said I have to keep an eye on the other dragons of the nest," said Willow.

"Okay," said Atha. He still seemed very happy. Willow got to her feet.

"I'll come back," she said. "When I've shown our healer around." Atha nodded, and went back to sleep. Willow went over to Serenity.

"Come on, I'll show you around," she said. "And introduce you to the other dragons." Serenity got to her feet.

"You sure they'll be okay with me?" she asked. "I know how protective mother dragons can be of their eggs and hatchlings, especially when it comes to humans."

"They'll be fine," said Willow. "We've all been looking forward to meeting you, ever since Chris told us about you." Serenity smiled, and mounted Willow. She spread her wings and flew out of the infirmary. Serenity was actually looking forward to meeting Chris's dragon friends, since he had all of hers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Serenity spent the next few days hanging out with the dragons. One by one the wounded dragons left the infirmary, happy for the first time in along time. Finally the only remaining dragons were the two Wyverns and a purple Scatterthing named Reyvn. With the place more empty Serenity had time to think, about Chris. She hoped he would make it back, along with all her friends. Then she thought about what Tenor said, was she falling in love with him? Then she considered the bigger question, did he feel the same way about her? True he had been overjoyed to see her after ten years and had been thrilled when she healed his wounded friends. She refused to get her hopes up. Chris might still only want to be just friends, since they lived on opposite sides of the Earth.

She was sitting in her chair one afternoon. Reyvn was sleeping, recovering from a broken wing. Just then Willow approached her.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Chris," Serenity said.

"Oh, I see," Willow said, she didn't sound surprised. "Say, do you think you'll stay here when the war's over? And be our dragon healer?" Serenity sighed.

"I'm already a healer for Berk, and Draconia," she said. "I can't be in three places at once." Willow considered.

"Well, you don't have to decide anything yet," she said.

"Windwalker said two weeks," said Serenity.

"That was two weeks ago," said Willow. "They'll be heading back any day now." Serenity took several deep breaths.

"They'll have wounded," said Willow. "That is for sure."

"Well, I've emptied the infirmary," said Serenity. "And my bag has restocked itself."

"How'd it do that?" Willow asked.

"Lord Draco and Queen Aurora put enchantments on it," said Serenity. Willow looked impressed.

"What do you want to do today?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," Serenity said with a sigh. "I've seen your mountain, and the surrounding lands." Willow considered.

"You're a great rider you know," she said, finally. "Just as good as Chris." Serenity blushed.

"Thanks," she said. "I love flying and traveling."

"How long have you been traveling?" Willow asked. Serenity thought back.

"Ever since Chris was lost at sea," she said. "I've traveled on different dragons; The king, queen, Tenor, Ruby, and even Lord Draco himself." Willow smiled.

"Our lord really must like the two of you," she said. "Normally he doesn't trust humans enough to show himself to them." Then she noticed that Serenity had a book in her lap. It was dark leather with gold trim, and a red silk bookmark sticking out of it. It wasn't a very thick book and Serenity had her hands over the title.

"What's that?" Willow asked. Serenity turned her attention to the book.

"It's my favorite story book," she said. "It's called Cinderella." She held up the book so Willow could see the cover. The title was arched across the top in fancy letters. Bellow the title was a picture of a woman's high heeled shoe that glittered.

"Doesn't look like you've finished it," said Willow.

"I started it ten years ago," said Serenity. "And haven't finished it since."

"It's frozen in time?" said Willow.

"That's one way of looking at it," said Serenity.

"What's it about?" Willow asked.

"It's about a young girl, named Ella," said Serenity. "When her mother dies of an illness, her father remarries a woman with two spoiled daughters. Ella's stepmother and stepsisters don't really see her as part of the family. Then her father dies, and she's left to deal with them. They make her a slave, and abuse her. They make her sleep in the attic where it's dirty and very cold. The only friends she has are the mice and the farm animals. She sleeps by the dying fire to keep warm, and wakes up the next day covered in cinders. When her stepmother and stepsisters see this they give her the name Cinderella.

Then the king announces that there will be a ball at the palace, where his son the prince will find his future bride. He invites all the young women in the kingdom, weather royalty or commoner. Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters get themselves ready, but forbid Cinderella to go. They force her to stay behind and clean the house. But when they leave, she's confronted by her fairy godmother. She helps Cinderella with magic. She turns a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, a goose into a driver. Then the godmother gives Cinderella a beautiful blue ball gown, and a pair of glass slippers. Then when it's all ready, the godmother tells her that the spell will break at midnight. She gets into her carriage and heads for the palace.

She arrives at the ball late. She dances with the prince, after which they stroll about the castle grounds. She gets so carried away, that before she can tell the prince who she is, midnight arrives. Cinderella runs as fast as she can back towards the carriage. She accidentally drops one of her glass slippers, but is in too much of a hurry to get it. She manages to get home just as the spell breaks. The prince finds her slipper and searches the kingdom for the girl that fits the slipper. He eventually finds Cinderella and not only does the slipper fit, but she has he the other one. The prince then takes her from her evil stepmother and stepsisters and brings her to he castle to be married. Right know I'm at the part just before the fairy godmother comes, Cinderella is all alone." Willow was quiet for a few minuets. She considered this story, as well as the story Serenity told of how she met Chris.

"Well, I can certainly see why you like it," she said. "I suppose Chris is your prince?"

"He's not a prince," Serenity said sadly.

"He's the Dragon King's son," Willow pointed out. "He may not be the crowned prince because he's human, but he is still technically a prince."

"I suppose you're right," said Serenity.

"Then, who would be your fair godmother?" Willow asked. Serenity was sad again.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't think I have one, I wish I did though. I would love a pair of glass slippers." Willow was quiet again.

"How come you won't finish it?" she asked. "Now that you know Chris is alive."

"I don't want to get my hopes up," said Serenity. "He's fighting in a war, anything could happen."

"True," Willow agreed. "But I've seen him fight first hand, and have even spared with him. He's hard opponent to beat, I'm confident he will make it back safely. They've all made it home safely in the past." Serenity calmed herself down. She put her book into her saddle bags.

"I will finish it," she said. "When this war is over."

"Fair enough," said Willow.

"I hope they come back soon," said Serenity.

"They will," said Willow. "They'll be back any day now." Serenity sighed. Willow nuzzled her, then rejoined her brother. Serenity got to her feet and left the infirmary to stretch her legs. She stood on the ledge outside. She leaned on the wall and watched the dragons fly. There were very few, just her patients and the mother dragons and the young ones. Just then Hobbs landed on the ledge. Serenity smiled and stroked his snout. Hobbs tuned his scales a bright sunshine yellow.

"So what was it that Chris took the blame for you for?" he asked. "I mean what did you do?"

"The Queen has a lot of antiques," said Serenity. "She has a whole gallery full of them. Chris and I were in there one day. He told me he'd always wanted to see one of them up close. So I went to take one down, a magic goblet called the Cup of Life, but I accidentally knocked over the pedestal and it broke. When the dragons came I was about to tell them what had happened, but Chris told them. I thought he was going to rat me out, tell them it was me. But he told them that he was responsible. His parents were angry of course, and sent him to his room. I wasn't punished at all. And that wasn't the last time something like that happened. Once I came up with the idea to play tag indoors, since it was raining outside. We were running really fast and I wasn't looking where I was going. I tripped and tore down a huge tapestry, which fell on to a potted plant, it fell over, broke and knocked over several suits of dragon armor. When the dragons came, Chris told them it was all him. Re told him to clean it up then go to his room. I offered to help him, but Aurora said that this was his punishment. I tried to get him out of it, but Chris said he would do it." Serenity sniffed and wiped her eye. Willow looked amazed.

"Wow, he took the blame every time you broke something?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Serenity. "It didn't happen too often, thank Draco, but when it did he always took the blame. And he was lost at sea before I had the chance to repay him."

"But now you have a chance," said Willow. "And I think you already repaid him by helping us in our time of need."

"Yes," said Serenity. "But I think I'll forever be indebted to him."

"It seems you two have more in common that I realized," said Willow. "You both go out of your way to help both each other and dragons. You're a team."

"Yes," said Serenity. "And we've been doing exactly what we planned to do, only we were doing it several miles apart."

"And now you're back together," said Willow. "Who knows how many dragon live you'll saved now." Serenity smiled wider.

"Yes," she said. Then she yawned. "I should probably get dinner started." She dug through her saddle bags.

"Chris has food in his cave," said Willow.

"He probably took it with him," Serenity said. "But, that's okay I brought my own." She pulled out a small wooden box, full of trout. She got up and went over to a small ledge that she had used for a kitchen counter. She got to work skinning the fish with her bare fingers and a pocket knife.

Willow and the other dragons watched her quietly as she made dinner. Soon the smell of cooking fish filled the cave, making the dragons' mouths water. No one spoke. Serenity was lost in thought as she ate her fish. All she could think about was Chris. The more she thought about it, the less she could deny that she was falling in love with him. She wanted to see him really badly. Hopefully they would come back tomorrow.

She finished dinner and was about to go into her tent when Rainier came in.

"Hey it's a full moon out," she said. "Come see." Serenity mounted her and they flew outside. Rainier landed on the very peak of the mountain. There were a number of dragons up there. They were all looking up at the very clear sky. Serenity looked up to see a million stars above her. Among them was the full moon. It shone down, providing the only light. Serenity smiled at it. She had flown under the moon before, and it never ceased to take her breath a way. Soon after Serenity and the dragons went back inside and went to sleep.

The next day Serenity came out of her tent and stretched. The cave was quiet. The only occupant in the cave, besides herself, was Reyvn. She went over and inspected his wing. It was getting better.

"Another week, then you can fly on it again," Serenity said.

"Thank you Serenity," said Reyvn. He got to his feet and left the cave. Serenity then made breakfast for herself, then wondered what she was going to do the rest of the day. She didn't bring her knitting or sewing, all she brought was her Cinderella book. She didn't feel ready to finish it, her happily ever after still felt far out of her reach. Suddenly she heard dragons outside, chattering excitedly. Serenity got to her feet and went outside. All the dragons in the nest were flying towards the exits. She spotted Willow.

"Willow!" she called. Willow altered her course and landed on the ledge.

"It's the militia, they're back," she said, bursting with joy. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." Serenity put her hat on and got on her back. Willow flew out of the mountain. In the distance Serenity saw the dragons flying towards the mountain. Her heart leaped as Willow flew to join them.

When they all landed the militia reunited with the dragons they had left behind. Willow landed and Serenity dismounted. She scanned the crowd for her family, Chris especially. She soon spotted them.

"Chris!" she called. Chris dismounted Windwalker and turned to face her. He smiled. They rushed towards each other. But before Serenity reached him, she almost run over by an overly excited Toothless. Serenity turned her attention to him. She scratched him behind the ears. She gave Chris an apologetic smile. He seemed to understand. She then looked Toothless in the eyes.

"Well hello you handsome thing," she said. Toothless purred and nuzzled her shoulder.

"We won!" he exclaimed. "We all fought valiantly and Re unlocked his titan wing."

"Impressive," said Serenity. "What about Aurora and Tenor?"

"No, not yet," said Toothless. "But Windwalker plans to unlock theirs too." Serenity hugged his head.

"I'm so glade you all came back safe," she said. Then Toothless heard his rider calling him. Toothless turned and went to him, and Serenity turned back to Chris.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"That's alright, I don't blame him," Chris said. "You're a kind and beautiful young girl Serenity, I'm sure there are a lot of dragons out there who would love to see you." Serenity smiled wider and hugged him. He returned the gesture.

"How'd my dragons treat you?" he asked.

"Wonderfully," Serenity said. "How'd my dragons serve you?"

"Ah, they're very good fighters," Chris said. "Mom and Dad still treat me as their son, and yet they let me lead the charge." Serenity pulled out of the hug, but kept her hand in his.

"You're very lucky to have such good parents," she said. Chris murmured in agreement. He squeezed her hand.

"So, what happens now?" Serenity asked. Chris was about to answer when Windwalker let out a loud roar and everyone looked at her.

"My brothers and sisters," she said. "Our mission was a success, our suffering can finally end." The crowd roared with joy.

"It's time for celebration," Windwalker continued. "Let's show our guests a very important part of mountain nest culture." The crowd agreed. Serenity turned to Chris.

"Doesn't that mountain have a name?" she asked.

"No," said Chris. "It's just called the mountain nest."

"We'll meet at the Scorch at sundown," said Windwalker. Everyone except the outsiders were excited about this.

"What's the Scorch?" asked Hookfang.

"All in good time," said Windwalker mysteriously. Chris mounted her, and the other riders followed suit. Serenity mounted Tenor. They all spread their wings and flew back to the mountain.

They landed in Chris and Windwalker's cave and dismounted. Serenity stroked Tenor's neck. She was overjoyed that they had all come back safe. She threw her arms around Tenor.

"Thanks for coming back," she said.

"I told you we would," said Tenor, chuckling. He wrapped a wing around her shoulder. "I hope we didn't worry you too much." Serenity hugged his head.

"No, not too much," she said. "But I still really missed you." Tenor purred. Then Chris turned to Hiccup.

"Well friend, it has been a long journey," he said. "But I thank you and your riders for helping us win this war."

"No problem," said Hiccup, beaming. "Is it safe to say that we can continue to be allies?" Chris considered as he exchanged a look with Windwalker.

"Are you negotiating an alliance?" he asked.

"Yes I am," said Hiccup.

"What do you think Windwalker?" Chris asked. "Should we ally with these vikings?" Windwalker considered. She looked between the Berkians and Draconians, and her home. Then she turned to her rider, and nodded. They all beamed.

"Well, Hiccup, looks like you got yourself an alliance," Chris said. They both shook hands. Serenity sighed happily, now all her friends were together. Re turned to Windwalker.

"You're a very interesting individual Windwalker," he said.

"Thank you," said Windwalker. "I'll take that as a complement."

"You've proven to be an excellent leader," Re praised.

"I'm interested in how you became alpha Windwalker," said Hiccup.

"She obviously earned it," said Valka.

"I know, but how?" asked Hiccup. "Toothless had to defeat a beweilderbeast and Re inherited his crown from his parents. How did you become alpha?" Windwalker suddenly bore a sad expression, that Serenity knew all too well. She often bore it herself every time her horrible past was brought up. The story behind how Windwalker became alpha clearly wasn't a pleasant memory.

"Oh, sorry," said Hiccup.

"It's fine," said Windwalker, with Chris translating. Serenity liked the fact that she didn't have to do all the translating anymore.

"You don't have to tell this story if you want to," she told Windwalker, her voice full of sympathy. "If it's so painful."

"That's okay," said Windwalker. "I can handle it now." She sat on her haunches. "I'll tell this story in the easiest way." They all sat around the fire. Chris sat beside his dragon, Serenity sat beside him, and Tenor sat on Windwalker's other side. Windwalker took a deep breath.

"Many years ago, there was a young female Nighty Fury," Windwalker began, with Chris translating. "She came into this world scared and overwhelmed by it. But she had two loving parents who comforted her, and guided her. However, she felt alone as there were no other Night Fury her age in the nest. Even though her father was the alpha, she was still alone." This earned her a look of empathy from Toothless, Tenor, and Hiccup.

"Then she met an older, male Night Fury dragonet, named Syrik," Windwalker continued. "They became best friends, and did everything together. Then he started to change. He hardly spoke to her, and would look at her with a hungry glint in his eyes. It was creeping her out, she was afraid the she was losing him as a friend. Then one day Syrik approached her. He asked her to elope with him, even though she wasn't old enough for a mate. Syrik tried to force her into it, but she escaped and flew back to her parents. The banished him from the young female felt safe once again.

But one night she woke up to their screams. She rushed to their cave, and watched as he slaughtered them in cold blood." Windwalker paused, her face scrunched up with agony. "The young female tried to escape but Syrik shot at the entrance, making rocks fall and block her way out. She had no other choice, but to fight him. He was strong, and easily overpowered her. She lay on the ground, bloody and helpless. Syrik whispered in her ear that he was going to bend her to his will. She tried again to escape, but he slashed his claws across her flank. She struggled against him in vain. She cried desperately to Lord Draco for help. Then suddenly her scales glowed blue, and she felt a surge of strength and power. She was able to turn the tables on Syrik, and she ripped him to pieces. Only after she won, was she able to morn her parents. She felt alone again. Then Lord Draco himself appeared beside her. He used his magic to heal her wounds, and he comforted her. He told her that she had a great destiny before her. He then, bestowed a gift on her and explained that it would come into play later in life. Draco carved a way out, and sunlight streamed into the cave. He promised her that no mater how bad things would get, if she never gave up hope, he would always answer her cries for help. Then he spread his wings and went back to the Dragon Heaven, taking the spirits of her parents with him. The young Night Fury gritted her teeth and took her father's place as alpha, and carried on his legacy."

A heavy silence followed this story. Everyone was picturing this tragedy. Serenity sympathized with Windwalker, as she too had had a violent and scary childhood. Chris stroked his dragon's neck. Suddenly the silence was broken by a group of young dragonets running to Windwalker excitedly. As she turned to address them, Serenity spotted four long scars in her right flank. As a dragon healer she'd seen scars just like them, many times, but she still felt sorry for Windwalker. The Night Fury finished with the dragonets and turned back to the group. She cleared her throat.

"Anyway, enough story telling," she said. "We have a celebration to attend. I suggest we head to the Scorch, it's nearly time." She got to her feet, spread her wings, and flew out of the cave. The others got to their feet, and stared after her.

"That's terrible," said Aurora.

"Yes," Chris agreed, his eyes sad. "Her only regret is that she wasn't able to save her family. One of the reasons we got on so well was because we both felt helpless and weak. She feels like she could have saved her parents, and I feel like I could have hung on tighter to Dad's saddle to see mine. But when we were at our lowest points, we found strength. She felt like trash, and I was labeled as such." They all looked confused.

"Labeled as such?" Tenor asked. Without speaking Chris turned around and lifted the back of his shirt. Across his back was a brand mark that said; Sampah. Serenity shuttered again. She felt the tears in her eyes, but wiped them away with her handkerchief.

"Sampah means trash in Malay," Chris explained as he put his shirt back over it. "Those people wondered why a boy like my was wandering about with no parents. They must have thought I was cast out for something, and branded me to remind me of what I was to them. But I came to learn that it didn't mater what others thought of me. I decided that instead of crying and doing nothing, I would stand up and fight. Doing that is what turned me into what I am now." He beamed with pride. Serenity put a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly at him.

"I'm proud of you," she said softly. Chris returned her smile.

"Thank you," he said, placing a hand over hers. "Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I have no intention of missing celebration."

The riders mounted their dragons. Chris mounted Re, then held his hand out to Serenity. She took it and he helped her onto the Dragon King's saddle behind him. The dragons spread their wings and took off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

The dragons flew to the Scorch. Serenity looked over Chris's shoulder as they approached. They were approaching an enormous crater, lit with hundreds of bonfires.

"Wow! What on Earth made that?" she asked.

"That was here long before we came," Chris said. "I have no idea where it came from."

"I'm guessing either volcano, or meteorite," Serenity said. Chris looked over his shoulder at her.

"Say, will you sing for us at this celebration?" he asked. "Windwalker said you have a lovely singing voice." Serenity considered. She took a deep breath.

"Normally I only sing while I work," she said. "It helps me concentrate, and keeps my patients from panicking."

"Please," Chris asked. Serenity considered again.

"Alright," she said. "I have a good song in mind. But when do you want me to sing?"

"I'll tell you when," Chris said. "Thanks." She smiled. Chris steered Re towards the crater and landed. Serenity and Chris dismounted. All the other dragons from the nest were gathered there already. Windwalker was in the middle of the crowd. Chris went to join her and climbed into her saddle. Serenity stood next to Tenor.

"He wants me to sing," she whispered. Tenor beamed.

"And?" he said.

"I said I would," Serenity said. Tenor wrapped a wing around her shoulder.

"Well, he hasn't heard you sing yet," he said. "He's earned it, you agree?"

"Yes," said Serenity.

"What are you going to sing?" Tenor asked. Serenity gave him a mysterious smiled.

"You'll see," she said, stroking his snout. Suddenly Windwalker let out a loud roar and shot a plasma blast into the sky. The crowd fell silent and looked at her and Chris. Serenity looked at her friend. He began talking to the crowd. Serenity didn't hear a word, she always had trouble listening to long speeches, which was one of the reasons she loved to sing.

"Well, it seems he's finally the knight he always wanted to be," she said.

"Indeed," Tenor said. "He's a hero, and from what I've seen and heard, the hero always gets the girl." Serenity blushed.

"Yes, just like in story books," she said. "The knight gets the girl, right after he slays the..." She paused and looked guiltily at Tenor. He gave a small smile.

"I get it," he said. "It's okay. I get the feeling Chris won't have to slay a noble beast to win you over."

"Yeah, good," said Serenity. "I don't want anyone to die because of me. Especially a dragon." Tenor was about to respond when Chris addressed them.

"Draconians, step forward," he said. The royal dragons did as they were told. They joined Chris and Windwalker in the center of the crater. Serenity stayed next to her dragon.

"This is King Re and Queen Aurora of Draconia," Chris said. "And the Draconian Prime Minister, Tenor. His rider is this beautiful girl, Serenity, the finest dragon healer ever." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"They are my family," he continued. "They raised me from a baby, taught me everything I know. And Serenity was my very first friend. They are my family, and I trust them with my life. Now, let's show them how we celebrate victory." The dragons roared in agreement. They spread their wings and took off. The did acrobats, while humming a strange tune. Then Chris began to sing.

 _As a child you would wait_

 _And watch from far away._

 _But you always knew that you'd be the one_

 _That work while they all play._

 _In youth you'd lay_

 _Awake at night and scheme_

 _Of all the things that you would change,_

 _But it was just a dream!_

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

 _Will come_

 _When you'll have to rise_

 _Above the best and prove yourself,_

 _Your spirit never dies!_

 _Farewell, I've gone to take my throne above,_

 _But don't weep for me_

 _'Cause this will be_

 _The labor of my love._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

As he sang this song he and the other dragons danced to the tune. Serenity mounted Tenor and he took off. She let him do his favorite stunts. For some reason she felt like the song didn't include her. It talked about warriors, and she was only a healer. Soon the song ended and all the dragons landed at once. It created a thunderous boom, that echoed throughout the mountains. Tenor landed beside his comrades. Serenity stayed in the saddle. Chris cleared his throat.

"Now, Serenity has graciously agreed to sing as well," he said. He turned to her. "Lets see you fly." Serenity smiled, and glanced around at them all. She took a deep breath. Then she leaned down and whispered something in Tenor's ear.

"Lets show him our best trick," she said. Tenor purred in agreement. Serenity reached into her saddlebag and pulled out something. Then she turned back to the crowd and began to sing.

 _Here we are_

 _Sharing our lives_

 _We made it through_

 _The good and bad times_

 _And still we stand_

 _With hope in our hearts_

 _No matter what_

 _We will play our part_

 _And now we've come so far_

 _One chance to touch a star_

 _Go higher and higher._

As the song grew louder and stronger, the dragons got hyped up again. Serenity clicked the reins and Tenor took off. Serenity sang the chorus loud and clear.

 _Find your guiding inspiration_

 _In a place where dreams are made_

 _With a lifetime's preparation_

 _It's no time to be afraid_

 _Put our differences behind us_

 _While we shine like the sun_

 _See what we've all become_

 _Together we are one._

Tenor spun, twirled, and flipped. Serenity didn't do the same risky stunts as Chris did, she wanted to live to finish the song.

Deep inside your heart and soul

You've worked so hard

 _To reach your goal_

 _With every step_

 _With every breath_

 _You gave it all_

 _Till there was nothing left_

 _Seek out the strength to win_

 _No thoughts of giving in_

 _Go higher and higher._

The dragons took off and began dancing again. Tenor performed very tricky and erratic maneuvers. Serenity sang even louder.

 _Find your guiding inspiration_

 _In a place where dreams are made_

 _With a lifetime's preparation_

 _It's no time to be afraid_

 _Put our differences behind us_

 _While we shine like the sun_

 _See what we've all become_

 _Together we are one._

The roar of the dragons grew louder, and they danced around the Night Fury hybrid and his rider. They beat their wings to the rhythm of the song, and hey joined in.

 _Find your guiding inspiration_

 _In a place where dreams are made_

 _With a lifetime's preparation_

 _It's no time to be afraid_

 _Put our differences behind us_

 _While we shine like the sun_

 _See what we've all become_

 _Together we are one._

Then it all went very quiet. Tenor hovered in front of the moon, which was just barely beginning to wane. Then they glided down gracefully as Serenity sang the last line.

 _See what we've all become_

 _Together we are one._

Tenor landed gently and folded his wings. The group was surprised to find both Tenor and Serenity blindfolded. Serenity dismounted, removed the blindfolds, and put them back into her saddlebags.

"I didn't know you could do that," said Chris.

"It took me years to master that," said Serenity. She took off her hat and put it on top of her saddle.

The celebrations continued. The Berkians and Draconians joined in. Serenity sat on a rock to rest. She was starting to get sleepy. She absentmindedly fiddled with her hat. Just then Chris sat next to her.

"You look tired," he said.

"That tends to happen when one stays out all night," Serenity said. She yawned. "Did you like my song?"

"Oh yeah," Chris said. "Windwalker wasn't kidding, you can sing. What'd you think of mine?"

"Hmmm," Serenity considered. "It was a good song, very strong." Chris smiled.

"That was very impressive flying," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone ride like that."

"You weren't so bad yourself," Serenity said, smiling wider. "Riding like that could kill a man, but you pulled it off expertly." She placed her hand on top of his. She yawned again. Chris gripped her hand.

"Come on, I'll walk you back," he said.

"Is it walkable?" Serenity asked.

"Oh yeah," Chris said. "And there are a few dragons sticking around the nest who can take us." He got to her feet, and pulled her up too.

"Won't you be missed?" Serenity asked.

"No," said Chris. "I've done my bit. Come on, it's not far." They quietly left the crater and made their way back towards the nest.

"What're you doing tomorrow?" Serenity asked.

"Well, Windwalker wants to unlock Mom's titan wing," Chris said. "She unlocked Dad's out there on the road."

"How?" Serenity asked.

"Windwalker has her methods," Chris said. "I should warn you, her methods are a bit harsh. But I can assure you, everything will be under control."

"How'd you mean?" Serenity asked. "And how does Windwalker help?"

"Um," Chris sighed. "Her titan wing allows her to help other dragons unlock theirs. The dragons are put into a situation where they must push themselves beyond their limits. What do you know about the titan wing?" Serenity thought a moment.

"It's a dragon's final stage of maturity," said Serenity. "It's like adrenaline only stronger. The dragon goes through a physical change; they become stronger, faster, and sometimes bigger. It also provides an escape rout of sorts, for the dragons. When they're trapped and have no way out, they can summon their titan wing and it makes it easier to fight and get away."

"Have you ever seen a dragon unlock their titan wing?" Chris asked.

"No," said Serenity. "I wasn't there when Toothless unlocked his."

"Well, tomorrow you will," Chris said. "And I'll tell you this now. Windwalker may seem like she doesn't care, but she does. We're going to make sure no one gets hurt. But incase something does."

"I'll have my medical bag on standby," Serenity finished for him. He smiled at her.

Soon they reached entrance to the nest. A yellow Hackatoo was dozing off next to the cave. She woke up as Chris and Serenity approached her.

"Turning in early?" she asked.

"Yup," Chris said. "Um Serenity, this is Tiir, Windwalker's second in command."

"I thought you were second in command," Serenity said, as she stroked Tiir's snout.

"No, I'm third," said Chris. "Sort of like Tenor is."

"Oh, I see," said Serenity.

"Can you take us up to my cave?" Chris asked.

"Sure," said Tiir. She turned so her back was facing them. Chris mounted her, and pulled Serenity up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist. Tiir spread her wings and took off.

She landed outside the infirmary and the two humans dismounted. Serenity turned to Chris and hugged him, he hugged her bag.

"I'm glad we're still friends," she said.

"Me too," Chris said. "And I'm glad you're here." They pulled apart.

"I should go check on my patients," Serenity said, blushing. "Hopefully they're sleeping peacefully."

"You get some rest too," Chris said. "We'll need you help tomorrow."

"Of course," Serenity said. She hugged him one more time, before going inside the infirmary.

The next morning Serenity checked on the new patients that had been brought back from war. There weren't as many as there had been when Serenity had first arrived, about five. She checked their wounds. They were still fresh, but were healing just fine. Suddenly Aurora entered the infirmary.

"We're all gathering outside," she said. "I've been sent to collect you." Serenity noticed that the Queen looked extremely nervous.

"You alright your majesty?" Serenity asked, concerned.

"Yes," said Aurora. "I can foresee that I will make it out alive." Serenity stroked her neck. She noticed that Aurora's saddle had been replaced by a leather and metal harness.

"Come on, let's not keep them waiting," said Aurora. Serenity mounted her bareback. Aurora turned around, spread her wings and flew out of the infirmary.

They went outside to the sparring ledge where Chris had been sparring when they first arrived. Aurora landed and Serenity dismounted. Aurora went over to where Chris and Windwalker waited. Chris attached several chains to the harness. The chains were wrapped around several large boulders. He then pushed a few boulders off the cliff. The wait began dragging Aurora towards the edge of the cliff.

"Come on Aurora, you just have to hold up these rocks," said Windwalker. Aurora groaned in frustration. She was looking at the edge of the cliff nervously. And she wasn't the only on; everyone watching, Chris included, were holding their breath. Serenity stayed beside Re. The king was constantly fidgeting. Chris pushed another boulder off the cliff. Aurora grunted as she was jerked backed further towards the edge. She dug her claws into the stone.

"Don't worry Aurora," said Windwalker. "If you fail my dragons will rescue you. However they will only sever the chains, all you have to do is fly back up. But considering the weight of the rocks you'll be pretty tired, too tired to fly. You'll fall to the ground, good thing you're wearing you armor, oh wait." Aurora glared out of frustration. Windwalker glared back.

"If you want someone to be mad at," she said, right in Aurora's face. "Be mad at yourself, for not being able to do this." Serenity had never seen the Queen so scared before. Chris pushed another boulder off the edge. Aurora was pulled closer, her hind paws hung off the edge. She gritted her teeth, and was breathing hard.

"Now how about that," tutted Windwalker. "I never imagined the Queen was weak. I expected so much more from the daughter of the mighty Dragon God." She then turned to Re.

"I would have thought you would pick a stronger mate my king," she said. Re hissed and gnashed his teeth. Aurora was getting angry too. Her eyes snapped open, her pupils turned to slits. She threw her shoulders into the harness and slowly pulled the boulders back up. Windwalker beamed and made her scales glow blue. Serenity was surprised. She turned to Re.

"What's that?" she asked.

"That's Windwalker's titan wing," Re said. "Toothless's looks like that only not as strong yet." Serenity turned back to the event, stepping closer to Re. Windwalker turned to Chris, her eyes were wild.

"One more," she said. Chris hesitated nervously.

"Um, don't you think...

"I said one more," Windwalker interrupted. Chris sighed and reluctantly pushed off the last boulder. Aurora was sliding towards the edge. She put all her strength into keeping herself on the cliff, but was failing.

"Come on Aurora," Serenity said, quietly. But the Queen's strength was wearing away. Suddenly she seemed to tire out, and she slipped over the edge.

"AURORA!" Re roared, sparks flying from his mouth. He spread his wings to take off, but Windwalker stopped him.

"Don't worry your majesty," she said. "She's doing just fine." Serenity waited to hear the thud of Aurora landing on the ground, but it never came. Suddenly there came a loud roar, and the beating of wings. Aurora flew over the cliff, hauling the rocks as though it were nothing. She flew towards them and landed with all the boulders. Serenity and Chris rushed to her side, and removed the harness. Then stood back to see the results.

Aurora had changed colors. Her usual tropical blue under scales had turned silver grey. The horizontal ridges on her underbelly, turned into stretched out V's. The silver ridges extended in a rib like pattern along her body. On her face, two silver triangles appeared under each eye and a silver arch appeared on her forehead. The membrane of her wings had turned silver grey, as did the spines on her back. Both her horns and the whip part of her tail had grown longer, and turned silver grey.

Aurora spread her wings and admired her titan wing. Serenity moved out of the way so Re could get close to the Queen. Serenity stood between Chris and Tenor. They watched quietly as the King and Queen nuzzled each other.

"Does Re's titan wing look like that?" Serenity whispered.

"Same shape, only his is yellow," Chris whispered back. Serenity absentmindedly stroked Tenor's neck.

"You're next I imagine," she whispered.

"Yup," Tenor agreed. "And I have no idea what mine's going to look like. I'm looking forward to finding out though." He sounded thrilled.

After Aurora deactivated her titan wing; everyone went back into the mountain. Serenity returned to the infirmary and checked on her patients. As she did so, she became sad again. The war was over, and they would be heading home soon. If she wanted to be honest with herself, she didn't want to leave. Her best friend was here and they still had a lot to catch up on. Berk still needed a dragon healer, and so did the mountain. She was just one dragon healer, she couldn't be in two places at once. When she was finished with her work, she sat in her chair. The dragons were sleeping quietly, and their snores filled the cave. Living with dragons all her life, she was immune to their snores and they didn't bother her. She concentrated on the decision she had to make. She wanted to go home with her friends and family, yet she loved Chris and didn't want to leave him. Just then Tenor came in.

"Hi Tenor," said Serenity, still lost in thought. Tenor noticed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Serenity. "I'm wondering weather or not I should go with you guys."

"Oh, I see," said Tenor said. "Well whatever you choose, I'm sure you and Chris can still visit each other."

"True," said Serenity. "I could travel back and forth."

"You could be a nomad again," Tenor said. "Always traveling."

"Good idea," said Serenity. She stroked Tenor's snout. "How about you and Windwalker?"

"Oh, things are going great," Tenor said. "We're still friends."

"She likes you," Serenity said, it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Tenor said. "And I wouldn't mind being a nomad too." Serenity beamed and hugged his head. Tenor purred.

"Anyway," he said after a while. "I came to tell you to pack you things. We're heading out tomorrow."

"Oh," said Serenity sadly. "So soon."

"We'll come back," Tenor said. "I'm not too thrilled about leaving either." Serenity sighed. She reluctantly began gathering her things. Suddenly a thought struck her.

"What about them?" she asked, looking over at her patients. "I can't leave now. They need me." Tenor followed her gaze.

"Hmmm," he said. "Well, we should talk this over with Re and Aurora." Serenity finished gathering her things. She mounted Tenor and flew out of the cave.

They flew into the cave Re and Aurora had slept in. Re had removed his armor, and Aurora hadn't put hers back on, but both dragons were wearing their crowns. They looked up when Tenor landed and Serenity dismounted.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Serenity said.

"Yes," said Aurora.

"But I can't leave my patients," said Serenity. "They're still healing." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"I can help them with magic," she said, getting to her feet. "If that's alright with you."

"Of course your majesty," said Serenity. "Now that you've unlocked your titan wing, I wonder if that effects your magic." Aurora considered.

"Hmmm, interesting idea," she said. She gestured towards her back. Serenity climbed onto her. The Queen then spread her wings and took off.

The landed back at the infirmary. They went inside and Serenity dismounted. The wounded dragons were awake and looked up.

"Hello your majesty," said a green Thornridge.

"Hello, how are you all doing?" asked Aurora.

"We're okay now," said a dark purple Nadder. "You're dragon healer is a real blessing to our kind, just as Chris is." Serenity blushed and smiled. Aurora smiled in agreement.

"Unfortunately we're heading home tomorrow," she said. The dragons exchanged a glance.

"We don't want her to go," said a pink Raincutter.

"There are other dragons out there who need her help," Aurora pointed out.

"I suppose that's true," said the Thornridge. "But what about us?" Aurora stood up and activated her titan wing.

"This won't hurt," she said. Then she inhaled a huge breath, then let it out on the wounded dragons. They were healed all at once. They stood up and stretched their limbs.

"How come you didn't use your magic on the battlefield?" asked the Raincutter.

"Father doesn't want the humans to know that I have magic," said Aurora, as she deactivated her titan wing. "Chris and Serenity are the only humans who know. Father and I also don't want my magic to be used as a weapon."

"Very reasonable," said the Nadder, the others murmured in agreement. Aurora turned to Serenity.

"You should get some rest," she said. "We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am," said Serenity. She hugged the Queen. "Thank you." Aurora nuzzled her. Then she turned and left the cave. Serenity went into her tent and went to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Serenity woke up the next morning. She took down her tent and packed it up, along with her bed roll and sleeping bag. The cave was empty now, Aurora's magic had done the trick. She put her gear next to her medical bag. There were tears in her eyes the whole time. She would soon have to saw good bye to her friend. She mad a mental note to tell him how much she loved him and find out if he felt the same way about her. She moved her things out onto the ledge. Re flew up and landed beside her.

"You ready?" he asked. Serenity just nodded, looking at the ground. Re nuzzled her gently.

"Hey come on," he said. "It'll be okay. I'm going to miss him too."

"Can't we take him with us?" Serenity asked, though she could all ready guess his answer.

"He seems happy here," said Re. "If he wants to come he may, but we can't force him." Serenity sighed. She began putting her gear on his saddle. She remained silent the whole time. Then just as she was tightening the straps there came a loud BANG! that shook the whole mountain. Re became alert.

"What was that?" Serenity asked, her voice shaking with fear.

"Lets go find out," Re said. Serenity mounted him and they took off.

They met up with the others on the ground floor. Windwalker came running in, followed Tenor. Everyone looked confused and concerned.

"What's going on?" Aurora asked.

"I don't know," said Windwalker. Just then Tiir flew in from outside. "Tiir what's going on?"

"The Song, they've found us," Tiir said.

"What!?" Windwalker cried. They all flew outside. They landed on the peak of the mountain. Serenity gasped. She saw an army laying siege to the mountain. She saw catapults and many other weapons that she had never seen before. There were thousands of soldiers, and certainly a lot more soldiers then the mountain had dragons. Suddenly what looked like a tiny comet came flying towards the mountain. It hit and made an enormous explosion. Dust flew everywhere, and the ground shook. Both Chris and Windwalker were completely stunned.

"We should evacuate," Re said.

"We need to fight," Windwalker said, she sounded close to tears.

"We can do both," Chris said. "Follow me." They took off and went back inside. They found Tiir and landed next to her. Serenity dismounted

"Tiir, I need you and a few others to evacuate the young," Chris said. "The Stormcutter, her rider, and the dragon healer will go with you."

"Understood," said Tiir. Chris then turned to Serenity. He wrapped his arms around her, and she hugged him back. He had to go out and fight again, knowing this fact she hugged him very tightly.

"Be safe," he said in her ear. "Please."

"You too," Serenity whispered back. They pulled apart. He mounted Windwalker and Serenity grabbed her medical bag and mounted Tiir. They took off and followed Valka and Cloudjumper.

They rounded up the young dragonets and their mothers and flew them away from the mountain, and the oncoming danger. They eventually found a clearing in the green forest, miles from the mountain but it could still be seen towering over the trees and smaller hills. All the dragons landed. The mother dragons kept their hatchlings and unhatched eggs close to them. The hatchling were shaking out of fear.

"We're safe here," said Tiir. She looked around for something. "Didn't we have dragons who were wounded?"

"The Queen healed them with her magic," said Serenity. "She thought I would be heading home today."

"Oh, okay," Tiir said, she seemed both surprised and pleased. "Will she use her magic to help win this war?"

"Aurora and Draco don't want the vikings to know that she has magic," said Serenity. "Nor do they want her magic to be used as a weapon."

"I can understand that," said Tiir. "And I assume she doesn't want to put you out of business."

"She'll only heal a wound with her magic when I'm not present, and only when time is of the essence," Serenity explained.

"I see," said Tiir. "Well you might as well make yourself comfortable, I don't know how long we'll be here." Serenity nodded in agreement. She sat down and leaned against a pine tree. She took off her hat and set it beside her bag. She hoped Chris and the others would make it out alive. She still hadn't told Chris that she loved him. She kept forgetting due to the circumstances. She dozed off, she was ready for the next wave of patients she knew was coming. All was quiet. Then suddenly there came another explosion, louder. Everyone, Serenity included, jumped to their feet. They looked in the direction of the explosion, which happened to be the mountain. The whole thing was exploding. At first Serenity thought it was erupting. But then the whole thing collapsed and she gasped. The others stood there as though petrified. Soon the mountain was completely gone.

"What just happened?" Serenity asked.

"The Song," spat Tiir. "They destroyed our mountain, our home."

"But I thought only Mother Nature had the power to destroy a mountain," said Serenity.

"So did we," said Tiir. "But the humans have just proven us wrong." Serenity stroked her neck.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Tiir hung her head.

"You've never lost a home have you?" she said.

"I've been kicked out of one," Serenity said. "But no I haven't." Tiir sighed. Serenity stroked her snout.

"Though my not know what it's like to loose a home," Serenity continued. "I know all too well about the treachery of humans. They gave me this scar." She pointed to the almost invisible scar on her cheek. Tiir smiled sympathetically.

"Chris is the only human I'm not afraid of," said Serenity.

"Same here," said Tiir. She laid down and Serenity sat beside her.

They all sat in silence until the militia arrived. All of them were stunned from the blow of losing their home. They landed and some reunited with their mates and offspring. Serenity followed Tiir to find her friends. When they did find them, Chris was furious. He suddenly pounced on Hiccup and beat him up. Serenity let out a frightened squeal. Then Re pulled Chris off Hiccup, and Toothless pulled his rider away.

"What are you doing?" Re asked, shocked.

"I'm going to kill him!" Chris roared. "He led them here!" Everyone looked surprised.

"What?" Valka asked.

"You're 'chief' caused them to locate our nest. That head belongs to a Song soldier," Chris spat, pointing at a severed head. Upon seeing it, Serenity felt faint. She leaned heavily on Tiir. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at it. Tiir turned to her.

"You alright?" she asked.

"So much gore, makes me lightheaded," said Serenity. She took several deep breathes and opened her eyes again. Unfortunately things were still getting ugly.

"I found these in his pocket," Chris said. He threw a handful of Night Fury scales onto the ground. Serenity gasped again, and put a hand over her mouth. Now she knew why Chris was mad at Hiccup.

"Chris, I couldn't," Hiccup stammered, a hand supporting his bleeding lip.

"That's the point. You couldn't. You weak, pathetic, excuse of a man. You don't deserve to be chief," Chris roared. "Because of you many of my dragons are dead and our home is destroyed." Serenity saw tears of pain and fury in his eyes. She felt so bad for him. Hiccup said nothing.

"You and your tribe are hereby banished from the nest," Chris said. "By pain of death should you so much as glance our way." Everyone gasped at this.

"Chris please, they're must be other options," Re said. Chris was so angry he turned on Re.

"Are you siding with him?" Chris shouted. "Are you saying what he did was right?"

"You need to understand that..."

"Is everyone hearing this?" Chris interrupted. "My own father would rather side with his friend than his own son." The mountain dragons all growled. Serenity didn't dare open her mouth. She knew it would make Chris mad at her too, and the last thing she wanted was another black eye. Windwalker looked like she'd heard enough.

"Leave," she commanded. Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Re asked.

"If your allies betrayed out trust, how can we trust you Draconians?" Windwalker hissed. She bore the same expression as Chris; anger and pain.

"Windwalker you can't..."

"Oh, yes I can," said Windwaker. "And from the looks of my squadron, they don't want you here either." Serenity glanced around the clearing. Sure enough, the other dragons looked ready to attack. Suddenly Tiir pushed Serenity roughly towards the royal dragons. She stumbled but Tenor caught her with his wing.

"Now get out of my sight," Windwalker barked. Serenity looked over at Chris. He was very upset, tears streamed down his face. He looked at her. He drew one of his swords. Serenity felt her hart pick up speed.

"Don't make me," Chris sobbed. To Serenity's eyes the sword turned into a shovel. She felt the back of her neck heat up from fear. She stepped closer to Tenor. The Berkian and Draconian dragons took off, except Tenor. He was glaring daggers at Windwalker. She glared back at him.

"Leave," she said again.

"No," Tenor snapped back.

"I won't tell you again," said Windwalker darkly.

"You're making a grave mistake if you want to engage the Song again," Tenor said.

"Who do you think you are?" asked Windwalker. "Telling me what I can and can't do." Tenor gnashed his black teeth.

"I know for a fact you won't listen to reason," he said. "And I'll do whatever it takes to make you listen." He went into a fighting stance.

"Are you challenging me for alpha?" Windwalker asked.

"I won't let you hurt yourself," Tenor said. "And it seems fighting is the only way to make you listen." Windwalker growled, and also went into a fighting stance. Serenity put a hand on Tenor's neck.

"Serenity, step back," he ordered, without looking at her. Serenity reluctantly backed up. She bumped into a tree. She hugged it's trunk. She didn't feel well at all. She rested her head on the tree's rough bark and closed her eyes. She heard the two dragons fight. The air was filled with the sound of clanking metal, and dragon roars. She couldn't bare to watch. The sounds paused for a moment, then picked up again. Serenity opened her eyes in time to see Tenor hit the ground hard, and Windwalker landed on top of him with her scales glowing blue. She latched her teeth onto his neck. Serenity's heart stopped.

"NOO!" she screamed desperately. "Please, don't kill him." Windwalker looked at her. She looked around at her squadron, then down at Tenor again. She soon released him.

"I won't kill you," she said. "There has been enough death today." Re and Aurora rushed to his side, and Chris rushed to Windwalker's side.

"Now get out of my sight you..." Windwalker paused, looking for the right insult. "Mutt." Tenor flinched as though he'd been stabbed. Re and Aurora helped him to his feet. Serenity pulled out her white handkerchief and wiped her eyes with it.

"Serenity, come on," Aurora called. Serenity turned to the nearest dragon, which was Tiir.

"You should go," Tiir said.

"I will," Serenity sniffed. "But give this to Chris please." She held out the handkerchief. Tiir carefully took it.

"I will, now go," she said. "But don't forget this." She handed Serenity her medical bag. She took it and ran towards her dragons. Tenor looked winded so she mounted Aurora. They spread their wings and took off.

They left the mountain dragons far behind. They flew in formation, for several miles. Serenity couldn't stop crying. She was heartbroken and scared. Aurora sensed it. No one said anything however.

They flew for half an hour in uncomfortable silence. Then Hiccup suddenly landed in a random clearing. The others landed as well. Serenity dismounted. She looked over at Tenor who looked just as heartbroken as she felt. She went over to him.

"Are you hurt Tenor?" she asked.

"Not physically," Tenor said. "She couldn't get past my armor." His face scrunched up painfully. Serenity hugged his head. He purred, showing his appreciation.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," Serenity admitted. "Chris hates me now." Tenor nuzzled her.

"Oh, I'm sure he doesn't hate you," he said. "He doesn't have any reason to hate you."

"You saw how he looked at me," Serenity said. "He was going to hit me with that shovel, I mean sword." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"I bet my Night Fury half that he would never do anything of the sort," Tenor said.

"Still, I never got the chance to tell him I love him," Serenity said. "Now I may never see him again." She buried her face in his black scales and just sobbed. Tenor wrapped his wing around her.

"You weren't the only one with high hopes lovely," he said softly. "I was this close." He held two talons about an inch apart. Serenity hugged him tighter.

"I guess things go back to normal," she said.

"Yeah," Tenor agreed. "I guess so." He nuzzled her cheek. Just then Re and Aurora approached them.

"Tenor, you up for another battle?" Re asked. Tenor looked at him.

"I guess," he said, he sounded unsure.

"Come on Tenor," Aurora said, softly. "I know you've been hurt, but you have to put your feelings aside for now."

"What battle?" Serenity asked.

"We plan to go back and help them," said Re. "Weather they want us to or not."

"They threw us out," Tenor pointed out.

"And will that stop you from doing what's right?" Re said strongly. Tenor took a deep breath, and got a hold of himself. He stood at his full height.

"There we go," Re said quietly, smiling.

"You're going to war again?" Serenity asked, her voice was shaky. She looked at the ground. She wondered if the war would ever be over, and she would always have to let her whole family go possibly to their deaths. Aurora nuzzled her, and lifted her chin with the tip of her tail.

"It'll be okay," Aurora whispered. "This will be the last time, I promise. Then we can all go home." Serenity sniffed. She knew she couldn't talk them out of going, no matter how hard she tried. So she sighed and just nodded, not bothering to argue. The three Draconians and the Berkians put their heads together to plan their next attack. Serenity paid no attention to it. She sat on a fallen tree and just waited. She felt tired but knew that she would be returning to her job soon. She looked forward to it, she could use the distractions. She looked down at her trusted medical bag.

After a few minuets of brainstorming the group was ready to take action. Aurora came over to Serenity.

"Come on, time to go," she said.

"Where are we going?" Serenity asked.

"We're going to make our own explosive powder," said Aurora. "Give the Song a taste of their own medicine." Serenity heaved huge sigh.

"Alright," she said, as she got to her feet. She grabbed her bag and mounted Aurora.

"I'm going to take you back to your patients," the Queen said. "You still up to doing your job?"

"Yes ma'am," Serenity said. "I'm always up for my job."

"Good," said Aurora. She spread her wings and took off.

They flew back to the clearing where the young dragons were still huddling against their mothers. Aurora landed in the trees and Serenity dismounted. She took her bag off the Queen's saddle. Aurora nuzzled her again.

"Don't be afraid," she said. "Things can only go up from here."

"You're right," said Serenity. She wiped her eyes again. She hugged Aurora. Then she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and went out into the clearing. She turned to see Aurora flying away. She turned back around to face the mountain dragons. The militia was no where in sight. There was just the mother dragons, their offspring, and the two Wyverns Atha and Willow. They looked up when Serenity approached them.

"Serenity!" said Willow, surprised. "What are you doing back here?" Serenity swallowed hard.

"I know I'm not supposed to be here," she said. "But I want to come back to my job." Atha and Willow exchanged a glance.

"She is the only dragon healer we've ever had," Atha pointed out. "We're going to really need her help, if any of them."

"Good point," said Willow. She turned back to Serenity. "Well come on and make yourself comfortable. The militia just left to organize their plan."

"My friends just left too," Serenity said, sadly. She sat under a tree and took her hat off. She didn't say anything for a while. She started to wonder how Chris and Windwalker were to react when they found out. Would Windwalker actually kill Tenor this time? Would Chris run her through with his sword? Willow must have seen the worried look on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Is Chris going to be mad?" Serenity asked.

"At you?" said Atha. "I don't think so. He was pretty sorry to see you go. But he had to led that go so he could focus on winning this war." Serenity leaned against the tree trunk and sighed.

"Is it ever going to be over?" she asked.

"Oh, yes it will be," said Willow. "Chris and Windwalker will make sure of that." Serenity yawned. She didn't realized how tired she was until now.

"You should get some sleep," said Willow. "It'll most likely be a while before the patients come. I'll go tell our alpha we still have a healer." She spread her wings and took off. Serenity laid down and put her head on her bag. She fell asleep in minuets.

She was woken up several hours later by Willow. She sat up and yawned. It was late afternoon.

"Time to get to work," said Willow. Serenity was fully awake upon hearing that. She got to her feet and glanced around the clearing. There were now several wounded dragons scattered about. Serenity rolled up her sleeves and got right to work. She worried about nothing else, but her job. It took a good amount of time and her attention. But before long, they were all wrapped in bandages and splints. She wiped her brow and sat back down. Willow and Atha were checking on the hatchlings and eggs.

"Windwalker knows I'm here?" Serenity asked.

"Yes she does," said Willow. "Don't worry she's not mad about it." Serenity sighed with relief.

"What about Chris?" she asked.

"He wasn't there," said Willow. "I don't know where he went." Serenity sighed again. He didn't know she'd come back and she still wondered how he was going to react. But she'd worry about that later. She dug her water canteen out of her bag, only to find it empty.

"Is there a creek nearby?" she asked, holding up the canteen.

"Yes," said Willow. "I'll take you." Serenity got to her feet and mounted the Wyvern. She spread her wings and took off.

They flew a short way and landed next to a wide brook. Serenity jumped off and quickly filled up her canteen. Once it was full. She got back on and they flew back to the clearing. They landed and Serenity dismounted. Willow returned to Atha, and Serenity checked on her patients. More came in one by one. Serenity got to work at once. She didn't feel overwhelmed at all, the distraction helped. There came another long break. Willow and Atha dozed off. Serenity had a quick bite to eat.

Then about an hour later Serenity got one of the biggest surprises of her life. Tenor came fly towards the clearing, but he looked very different. His entire body was covered in what looked like glowing, red lightning. His spines and nostrils were also glowing bright red. Then she saw that he was carrying Windwalker, who was obviously injured. Serenity rushed over as Tenor carefully set his burden down. Windwalker was tangled up in what appeared to be barbed wire. Tenor looked worried.

"Please Serenity, help her," he begged. Serenity fetched her bag and put it beside Windwalker. Then she addressed Tenor.

"I'll handle this," she assured him. "You go, they need you." Tenor seemed satisfied. He spread his wings to take off.

"Wait," Windwalker said, and Tenor looked at her. "Be safe." Tenor nuzzled her, purring. The he opened his wings again and took off. Serenity knelt beside Windwalker and dug through her bag.

"Never seen him like that before," she said casually, as she took out a small pair of wire cutters. "The red lighting."

"It's his titan wing," Windwalker explained.

"Oh," said Serenity. She took out a syringe needle and a bottle of painkillers. She filled the syringe. Windwalker watched her. Serenity gave her the painkillers. Once that was done, she put the needle and painkillers away and readied the wire cutters.

"Why do you have wire cutters?" asked Windwalker. It sounded like she was relaxing as the pain went away.

"Just be glad I do," said Serenity. She waited until the painkillers took full effect. When it did, she got to work cutting the barbed wire.

"Where's Chris?" she asked.

"He's on a special mission," said Windwalker. "You don't have to worry about him."

"Looks like you and Tenor made up," Serenity said.

"Yes," said Windwalker. "He saved my life out there."

"Aww, that's sweet of him," said Serenity cheerfully. Windwalker murmured in agreement. Serenity continued to cut the barbed wire. Then she slowly and carefully peeled it off Windwalker's body. When it was off she tossed it aside. Then she examined the wounds. She reached into the bag and pulled out needle, thread, a jar of Night Fury saliva, and bandages. She got to work addressing Windwalker's injuries. She hummed quietly as she did so.

"No singing?" Windwalker asked. "I like your singing." Serenity sighed and racked her mind for a quiet song to sing. She continued to work, and sang quietly.

 _Spend all your time waiting_

 _For that second chance_

 _For a break that would make it okay_

 _There's always some reason_

 _To feel not good enough_

 _And it's hard, at the end of the day_

 _I need some distraction_

 _Oh, beautiful release_

 _Memories seep from my veins_

 _And maybe empty_

 _Oh, and weightless, and maybe_

 _I'll find some peace tonight_

 _In the arms of the angel_

 _Fly away from here_

 _From this dark, cold hotel room_

 _And the endlessness that you fear_

 _You are pulled from the wreckage_

 _Of your silent reverie_

 _You're in the arms of the angel_

 _May you find some comfort here_

 _So tired of the straight line_

 _And everywhere you turn_

 _There's vultures and thieves at your back_

 _The storm keeps on twisting_

 _Keep on building the lies_

 _That you make up for all that you lack_

 _It don't make no difference_

 _Escape one last time_

 _It's easier to believe in this sweet madness_

 _Oh, this glorious sadness_

 _That brings me to my knees_

 _In the arms of the angel_

 _Fly away from here_

 _From this dark, cold hotel room_

 _And the endlessness that you fear_

 _You are pulled from the wreckage_

 _Of your silent reverie_

 _You're in the arms of the angel_

 _May you find some comfort here_

 _You're in the arms of the angel_

 _May you find some comfort here_

Windwalker listened without interrupting. Serenity worked while she sang, and when the song was over Windwalker was wrapped snuggly in bandages.

"Is that better?" Serenity asked.

"Yes," Windwalker said. "It still hurts, but not as badly. Thank you." Serenity smiled. She put her things away. Windwalker took several deep breaths.

Serenity leaned against a nearby tree to take a breather. She racked her brain for something to talk about.

"I can see why he likes you," said Windwalker. Serenity already knew who she was referring to.

"Is he still mad me?" Serenity asked. She was still worried about this.

"Oh, he's not mad at you," said Windwalker. "He was mad at the Song, he's certainly not mad at you." Serenity took a deep breath. She somehow still felt nervous about seeing Chris. Windwalker was quick to notice.

"Don't be so nervous, he still likes you," she said. "He would never hurt you."

"Okay," Serenity sighed. "I hope he's okay out there."

"Me too," said Windwalker. "But he has a good chance. He's not fighting at the moment."

"Well, you should get some rest," Serenity said. "You have a long recovery ahead of you." Windwalker nodded. She laid her head down and closed her eyes.

They all sat in silence, waiting for news on the outcome of the battle. Serenity checked on her patients. No one was dying yet, which was a good sign. They didn't have to wait long. All too soon the militia came back. Serenity was quick to locate her friends amongst the crowd. Windwalker woke up.

"They're back," she said. She moved to get up.

"You okay to walk?" Serenity asked.

"If you'll help me," said Windwalker. Serenity helped Windwalker walk through the large clearing towards the group. Chris had just dismounted and began looking around for something.

"Where's Windwalker?" he asked, worried. "Don't tell me she didn't make it."

"She made it," Tenor said. "But she was wounded in battle, so I took her to Serenity." Windwalker smiled.

"Now why would you think I didn't make it?" she said, announcing their presence. "You thing I'd be selfish enough to leave you by yourself." Chris turned towards them, and beamed.

"Windwalker," he exclaimed. Serenity stepped aside, giving them their moment. Chris hugged his dragon. Windwalker stiffened and groaned.

"As much as I would love to return the gesture," she said, holding her breath. "My body hurts, really hurts." Chris released her, and carefully held her head, which didn't have any bandages on it. Windwalker purred.

"Thank you Windwalker," Chris said.

"Thank you Chris," she said back. They separated; Windwalker limped over towards Tenor, and Chris turned to Serenity. She felt her heart skip a beat again. Chris walked closer to her, he didn't appear to angry again.

"Serenity, I'm sorry I banished you," he said. "I couldn't stop thinking about how much I hurt you. I, I forgot that your birth parents threw you out because you were friends with a dragon, and here you were doing exactly that. I didn't realize the impact of my words until I saw your face, it left me heartbroken." He paused and very carefully touched her face. His thumb traced the faint scar on her face. Serenity put her hand on top of his, holding it in place, and leaned into his touch.

"Chris, you're nothing like my brith parents," she said. "You were always there for me when we were younger. We did so much together. I never gave up on you Chris, and I never will." Chris locked eyes with her, and she couldn't look away. Neither of them spoke. They leaned towards each other. Then suddenly they were interrupted by Toothless, yet again, calling Serenity's name excitedly. She sighed in disappointment, dragons could be so inconvenient sometimes. Both Chris and Serenity turned to acknowledge him. Luckily Hiccup called his dragon back, and Toothless went to his side. Chris and Serenity looked at each other again, as though nothing had happened. Chris pulled Serenity closer to him. He moved his hand from her scarred cheek to her chin, gently lifting it. He stared into her eyes, and she stared right back. Serenity felt herself blushing, but she didn't care.

"Serenity," Chris said, his voice was very serious. "I love you." And before Serenity could say a word, he pressed his lips to hers. Serenity thought her heart might burt with so much joy and love. Her eyes fluttered closed.

Though the kiss was short lived, she would never forget it, and from the look on Chris's face afterwords, neither would he. They separated after a few seconds. Serenity took a few deep breaths, and then it was her turn.

"I love you too Chris," she said, and she kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around the small of her back. Serenity wouldn't have minded if they stayed there forever. It was the happiest moment of her life, and she would never forget it. For who could forget true love's kiss?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

After a few minuets Chris turned to his parents. Serenity turned to Tenor, her cheeks were still flushed and pink. Tenor was looking rather pleased as well. He laughed when he saw her face.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you so red," he said. Serenity giggled.

"Yeah, well I've never been kissed before," she said.

"I haven't either," said Tenor. Serenity smiled at him. Then she kissed his muzzle. Tenor pinned his ears back bashfully, and snorted.

"I rest my case," he laughed. Serenity hugged his head.

"How'd it go with you and Windwalker?" she asked. Tenor sighed happily.

"Well, I asked her to be my mate," he said.

"And?" Serenity asked, hoping for the best.

"She said yes," Tenor said, beaming.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Serenity cried joyfully. She threw her arms around his neck. Tenor hugged her back.

"You won't be alone anymore," she said.

"Nope, and neither will you," Tenor said. "Our days of searching are over." Serenity let go of him. They turned to watch the others. Chris and the others had made amens. Windwalker was laying nearby. Both she and Chris looked happy but sad.

"Though we won this war, it came at price," Chris said. "Half of our squadron is gone, and we're homeless. We have no where to go." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"Well I wouldn't say you have no where to go," Re said. "If you're looking for a new home, we can help." Windwalker got to her feet and limped over to Chris, she looked curious.

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah," said Aurora. "Mt. Vulcan is an uninhabited island off the cost of Draconia. It's plenty big enough for your squadron, and it's safe from humans. If you're interested."

"And if you don't mind living next to a dormant volcano," Re added. Windwalker breathed a sigh of relief. Chris looked relieved as well.

"Thank you," said Windwalker, humbly. "My squadron and I are grateful to you, and we accept your offer." The other dragons murmured in agreement. Then they all bow humbly to their king and queen. Re and Aurora blushed, but held themselves tall. The moment ended. Serenity noticed that Chris didn't look entirely happy. While the others settled down Chris slipped away.

"What's wrong with him?" Tenor asked.

"I'll find out," Serenity said. "You go spend time with your new friend, make sure she doesn't distress herself too much. I don't want any of those stitches coming out." Tenor crooned bashfully. He walked off and joined Windwalker. Serenity went after Chris.

She found him looking back at the destroyed mountain. His face was solum. Serenity stood beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. She could guess what was on his mind.

"I'm so sorry Chris," she said, very softly. He sighed.

"My friends are dead," he said.

"No all of them," Serenity pointed out. "And now you all have a new home."

"True," Chris said.

"Well, they get a new home," Serenity continued. "You get your old one." That made him smile. He turned to face her. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back.

"You know in my experience," Serenity said. "At the end of even the most violent storm is a rainbow."

"That makes sense," Chris said. "This war was the storm."

"Now you just have to find that rainbow," said Serenity. There was a short pause, Chris let it sink in. After a while he changed the subject.

"So, did you miss me as much as I missed you?" he asked.

"You've no idea," Serenity sighed. Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out Serenity's handkerchief. He carefully put it in her hand and closed her fingers around it.

"Your gesture was greatly appreciated," he said. Serenity smiled. But then she saw tears in his eyes still. She used her handkerchief to wipe them away. He heaved a shaky sigh.

"I was hoping you wouldn't see me cry," he said.

"I've seen you cry before," said Serenity. She hugged him again. He returned the gesture and held on for dear life. Serenity rubbed his back gently. Neither of them spoke for what felt like ages. Chris stood back slightly. His eyes, red and puffy. Serenity wiped away the last of his tears.

"There now, it's okay," she said, her voice was very soft.

"I hope I don't loose you too," Chris said.

"You won't," Serenity said. Then she changed the subject. "And Chris, I'm sorry I got you in all trouble." Chris smiled at her.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said. He held her hand. "We should get back. You can see how your patients are doing." Serenity nodded.

They turned and headed back towards the campsite. It was now twilight. They were quiet for a while. Her hand was still in his. When they got back they found it silent. Everyone was asleep. A fire pit sat in the middle of the clearing. It was still glowing with blue embers, indicating that Aurora had lit the camp fire. Chris looked over at Windwalker. She was sleeping next to a tall tree.

"How long until she's healed?" he asked.

"A week," said Serenity. "She can fly, but you can't rider for a while. As for the rest of them, they'll be up and about in a week or two as well."

"So, two weeks then?" said Chris.

"Yes," said Serenity. "Then we can all go home." She went over to where her gear was sitting, beside Re and Aurora. She picked up her tent and tarp.

"Is that really necessary?" Chris asked. "It's a clear night, and warm."

"I once camped without a tent on a night like this," said Serenity, as she unrolled the tarp. "I woke up in the middle of the night, and it was raining buckets. So, even on the clearest nights I always set up a tent just to be safe even if I don't end up sleeping in it." She began setting up the tent.

A few minutes later they were laying next to each other, looking up at the starry sky. Serenity had her head resting on her medical bag and Chris had his resting on a log.

"Just so you know, I didn't really want to throw you out," Chris said.

"I've been thrown out over fifty times, I'm used to it," said Serenity. Chris looked at her surprised.

"Fifty times!?" he said.

"It's nothing to feel bad about," said Serenity. "I didn't belong in those places anyway. Berk's the only place, besides Draconia, that has accepted me."

"I see," said Chris. "So, you go back and forth to Berk every year."

"Yeah," said Serenity. "Well, not just Berk but the archipelago that it's apart of. There's a lot of dragons out there. I've been putting my skills to very good use there."

"You must have saved hundreds of lives," Chris said, it wasn't a question.

"And made quite a lot friends in the process," Serenity added.

"So, what else have I missed?" Chris asked.

"We got three new volcanoes back home," said Serenity. "Three mountains blew their tops off, like Vesuvius. Caused a lot of damage."

"Anyone killed?" Chris asked.

"Luckily dragons are not as easily victimized by volcanoes as humans," said Serenity. "Some got seriously injured, but no fatalities."

"Well, that's good," said Chris. Then he yawned. "We should get some sleep. Lots to do tomorrow."

"I'm the only one with work to do," said Serenity.

"Well, we'll need to find somewhere to hide until your patients are cured," Chris said. "You're the only one with a tent, and it only holds to people."

"Fair point," Serenity yawned. She turned to see that he'd fallen asleep. She smiled and kissed his cheek. Then she too fell asleep.

The next few days the entire squadron camped at the base of a smaller mountain with a large cave in the side. The injured, hatchlings, and unhatched eggs took shelter in the cave with their respective caretakers. The rest of the squadron stayed outside. Serenity kept her eye on her patients, including Windwalker. There was a lot of chatter among the squadron about what their new home was going to be like. Re and Aurora had told them that it was very safe and peaceful. They would have the support of the rest of the Draconian squadrons. All the mountain dragons were excited about it.

One by one Serenity's patients were on their feet. She was checking up on Windwalker one afternoon. Tenor refused to leave her side. Serenity allowed him to stay, as long as he helped out. Windwalker watched her squadron outside. She was also looking in the direction of where the mountain should have been.

"You alright?" Serenity asked, as she removed Windwalker's stitches.

"What'd you think?" Windwalker said, sourly. "I just lost my home and many of my friends."

"A lot of the dragons in Draconia have lost their homes and friends to humans," Serenity said. "You guys won't be the first, nor will you be the last."

"Humans want this planet all to themselves," Tenor said. "And anyone who gets in their way gets destroyed."

"Except for these Berkians," said Serenity. "Hiccup is the type to settle on an island occupied by dragons, and let the dragons keep their home."

"Are you looking forward to seeing your new home?" Tenor asked.

"Of course I am," said Windwalker. "There's left for us here now." She looked at the ground sadly. Serenity paused in her work and hugged Windwalker's neck. The Night Fury purred.

"You going to love Draconia," Serenity said softly. "You won't have to relive this nightmare again."

"You're sure?" said Windwalker. Serenity released her and went back to work.

"Positive," she said. "When my original family kicked me out, after five years of abuse, Ruby brought me to Draconia and I was never abused again."

"What sort of abuse?" asked Windwalkers.

"Verbal, physical," said Serenity. "They beat me up, threw me out onto the street, and left me for dead. Ruby came back from a hunting trip. He found me and took me far away from that place."

"You still remember that day?" Windwalker asked.

"All too well," said Serenity.

"How can you remember something like that?" asked Windwalker.

"It's kind of hard to forget when it keeps popping up in your nightmares," Serenity said, as she put away her clippers and tweezers.

"Oh, I see," said Windwalker. "How'd you get over it?" Serenity looked outside towards where Chris was bringing back firewood. Windwalker followed her gaze.

"I finally knew what it was like to have a best friend," Serenity said. "What it was like to be loved."

"You're very softhearted," said Windwalker. Serenity smiled as she closed her bag.

"That's why I'm a healer and not a fighter," she said. She set the bag down and got to her feet.

Soon all the wounded dragons were healed and ready to travel. The squadron made ready to make the long flight. The Berkians were looking forward to heading home. They packed their gear. When everyone was ready, they took off and head homeward. The unhatched eggs and young hatchlings were carried by adult dragons. Serenity rode on Tenor and Chris rode Windwalker. They flew next to each other the whole way.

The squadron headed back west, towards the Archipelago. They planned to stop off on Berk, before the Draconians took their new friends home. It took another week to reach the Archipelago. The Berkians and Draconians hovered over the ocean. The mountain dragons flew nearby. The sun was high in the sky.

"Thanks for coming when we called," said Hiccup.

"Our pleasure," said Re. "And thank you for helping us find our son."

"I hope we see you again," said Hiccup.

"Oh, that is for sure," said Aurora lightly. Serenity saw the Queen glance in her and Chris's direction. "I get the feeling you'll be seeing a whole lot more of us."

"Well, we better be heading off," said Re. "And show these dragons their new home." He gestured towards the mountain dragons.

"Us too," said Hiccup. "I've got a whole lot of chiefing to do." Re looked both understanding and amused.

"I hear you," he said.

"Good luck to you," said Hiccup. Re nodded once. Then he and his dragons turned and headed south, the squadron followed him.

They headed home at long last. The dragons grew more excited with every mile. Serenity noticed that Chris looked nervous. She steered Tenor alongside Windwalker.

"You alright?" she asked.

"I've been dreaming of this for ten long years," Chris said. "Ever since I survived that storm."

"Well, I can assure it's just the way you left it," Serenity said. At that moment they approached the wall that surrounded Draconian waters.

"I don't remember that wall," said Chris.

"We built it several years ago," Re said. "For extra protection."

"No gate?" said Windwalker.

"The gates are way underwater," said Re. "Only the sea dragons can access them. The rest of us, just fly over the wall. Human ships and weapons can't get past it." He led the way over the wall and the Draconian waters. On the other side of the wall the different colored fins of Whale Dragons cut through the water's surface. Every once in a while one of them would come up for air. Among the Whale Dragons were pods and pods of Scauldrons, Sea Shockers, Thunderdrums, and many other sea dragons in every size, shape, and color. They looked up when the new arrivals flew overhead. They flew over the sea dragons and towards the mainland. Eventually the mountains came into view. The squadron cheered. Re turned to his comrades.

"Let's show our new friends their new home," he suggested. "I'm sure they're tired of traveling." Aurora and Tenor nodded in agreement. They turned and headed east. The new arrivals followed them. Soon they spotted a large island below.

It was four thousand square miles. There were several trees and lots of green grass. Wherever there wasn't greenery, there was dried lava. There was a beach on two sides of the island, both of them were made of black sand. There was a tall cliff made of dried lava and had a beautiful waterfall gushing down into the sea. A river fed the waterfall, that flowed from a large lake. Surrounding it were a few bubbling springs. And shadowing the whole thing was a large caldera. In the crater were more springs, and a large geyser right in the middle of the crater. Around the rim was more dried lava.

The mountain dragons admired their new home. Then they headed in for landing. The royal dragons landed on the rim of the caldera. Re turned to Windwalker, who was mesmerized by the place.

"Well, what'd you think?" he asked.

"It's beautiful," said Windwalker. "What do you call it again?"

"Mt. Vulcan," said Aurora. "It's not the tallest volcano, but it has the largest crater."

"Is the water drinkable?" asked Windwalker.

"Oh yeah," said Re. "It's swimmable too. It's pretty warm, but that's the only thing different about it."

"And you it's only dormant," said Windwalker.

"Well, no volcano stays quiet forever," said Tenor.

"When this one blows you should gather your friends and head to the mainland as fast as you can," Re said. "Let the volcano blow off steam before returning."

"Will the eruption damage the island?" asked Windwalker.

"Not to the extent you're thinking of," said Aurora. "The eruption will consist mostly of ash and the occasional lava bomb. And any damage it will cause, I will fix myself." Windwalker turned to the king and queen.

"Thank you, your majesties," she said. "This island is perfect." Serenity turned to Chris, who was also admiring the island.

"You remember this place?" she asked.

"Sure do," Chris said. "I've been here hundreds of times. Especially Whale Spout." He looked in the direction of the geyser.

"We wanted to see if it would shoot us into the sky," Serenity giggled.

"We tried it too," Chris said, just as amused. "I broke my arm and got a concussion."

"That was one of the times I got you in trouble," Serenity said, not so amused now. Chris looked her in the eye.

"I'll forgive you, if you stop feeling guilty about it," he said. Serenity smiled at him.

"Deal," she said. Just then Re, Aurora, and Tenor turned to them.

"We should get back to the mainland," Re said. "I'll be telling the rest of the country about all of this." Chris smiled at the idea of heading to the mainland.

"Good idea," said Serenity. She got on Aurora and Chris got on Re.

"I'll come back later," Chris said to Windwalker. The Night Fury nodded.

"Make yourselves at home," said Aurora. With that the three dragons spread their wings and took off.

They all headed towards the Golden Gates. Behind them, was the Draconian Castle.

"Home," Chris sighed, happily. There were dark clouds overhead, indicating that a thunderstorm had just passed. And arched over the castle was a full rainbow.

"Looks like you found that rainbow," said Serenity. "Storm's over." She clicked the reins and steered Aurora towards the castle. The rest of the family followed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Six months later Serenity was laying in her bed asleep. Then she was suddenly woken up by Aurora.

"Serenity, wake up," she said excitedly. "Big day." Serenity opened her eyes. It was just passed sun rise. She sat up and looked around. Both Aurora and Windwalker were in her room. Serenity rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. Windwalker suddenly began licking her face. That woke her up further.

"Come on, it's your wedding day," said Windwalker. "You must get ready." Serenity jumped out of bed, tripping on the loose sheets. Aurora caught her with tail, keeping her from hitting the floor.

"When will it be?" she asked.

"Two hours," said Aurora. "We have lots to do." She gestured to the Round Table where a large breakfast was laid out. Next to it, was the Cinderella book. Serenity picked up the book.

"I think it's about you finished that," said Aurora. Serenity smiled and nodded in agreement. She sat down at the table.

"We should go check on the final preparations of front lawn," Windwalker suggested. "Now that she's up."

"Good idea," said Aurora, before turning to Serenity again. "We'll be right back." Serenity nodded. They left the room.

Serenity ate her breakfast, which consisted of ham, muffins, and fresh fruit. She finally finished Cinderella. She remembered the fairy tale very well. When she finished the book, she closed it and set on the table propped up against the milk jug. She stared at it for a long time. A lot had happened in the months after Chris came home. The new arrivals had settled into their new home quite well. The rest of the country made them feel welcome, and treated them like any other citizens. By now everyone in Draconia had heard their story. And they gave them full sympathy. Then Serenity got the surprise of her life; Chris had asked her marry him and she said yes. It had been on his balcony, under the full moon.

Word had spread around the country within just a few days. The news had even gone as far as Berk. Chris and Serenity had decided to wait until spring so the wedding could be outside. They spent all winter planning it. The Berkian dragon riders had been invited. Serenity had asked Hiccup to perform the ceremony. She was gracious enough to tell him well in advance, so he could practice.

Now, today, Serenity was going to marry her best friend. She was excited, and nervous. Aurora said that she would take care of the dress. She kept it a secret, from everyone.

Serenity sat in her seat. She was rereading he vows, which she had written herself. She had already memorized them, but she had nothing left to do. She read them while she waited for Aurora and Windwalker to come back. Soon the door opened and they came back in.

"Everything's ready downstairs," said Aurora. "Chris is up and getting dressed." Serenity sighed nervously.

"When do I get to see it?" she asked.

"When it's time," said Windwalker. "Now we have to get you dressed."

"I can dress myself," Serenity said. Aurora looked amused.

"I know you can," she said. "But you haven't seen your dress yet, so I'm doing it today." Serenity stood up. Aurora cracked her tail like a whip and the Round Tale vanished. She chuckled when she saw the surprised and worried look on Serenity's face.

"Don't worry, you'll get it back," she said. "But we'll need the space." Serenity sighed with relief. Aurora beckoned her over to the middle of the room where the table used to be.

"Right, let's see," said Aurora, more to herself.

"You conjuring it up with magic?" asked Windwalker.

"I am," said Aurora. "It's the only way to make sure it's perfect." She concentrated for a few minuets.

"Okay, you ready?" she asked Serenity, who nodded. Aurora stood at her full height. She inhaled a huge breath.

"This won't hurt a bit," she said. Then she shot her blue fire at Serenity. Soon all she saw was vivid blue flames. They didn't burn her at all, however. She closed her eyes anyway. But then the flames vanished and she opened her eyes. She now wearing a white strapless wedding dress. It was made of the finest satin that shimmered in the sunlight. It was wrapped in fancy embroidery that started at her abdomen and flowed down the long, free flowing skirt that went down to her ankles. On her left hip were blue silk flower with green silk leaves. Sapphires sat in the center of each flower and an emerald on each leaf. The blue and green colors wrapped around her left side like vines. The dress fit perfectly. The two dragons admired her quietly for a minuet. Then Aurora gently turned Serenity around to face the mirror. She hardly recognized herself. She wasn't wearing a vail yet. Her dragon scale locket stood out, just below her collar bone. In the mirror the dress looked like it was made of new fallen snow and sunlight.

"What do you think?" asked Aurora softly.

"Beautiful would be an understatement," said Serenity. She sniffed. She hadn't realized she'd been crying.

"What's wrong?" asked Windwalker.

"It's a wedding dress," Serenity said.

"Oh, you never thought you'd be wearing one huh?" said Aurora. Serenity nodded. Aurora handed her a tissue and she wiped her eyes.

"Now for the finishing touches," said Aurora. Windwalker had brought over the veil which was made of white mesh and lined with silver sequins. Aurora used her talons to gently comb through Serenity's hair. Then used her magic to make it fall in loose ringlets. Then she turned to a small table where there was a wooden box decorated with different colored gems. Aurora opened it and lifted out a silver tiara, decorated with pearls and diamonds. She took the veil from Windwalker and tied it to the back of the tiara. Then put the tiara on top of Serenity's head. She adjusted the veil, then stepped back again. Serenity turned to the mirror again. She looked even more like a bride.

"Right, one more thing," said Aurora. She looked down at Serenity's bare feet. She shot more blue fire at her feet. Serenity felt her heels rise a few inches off the ground. When the fire vanished, Serenity was wearing a pair of glittering glass slippers. They sparkled with many facets and had large 3" heels.

"Wow," she gasped. "Just like Cinderella had."

"Yup," said Aurora. Serenity hugged her.

"Thank you," she said.

"Should they be finding their seats by now?" asked Windwalker. Aurora's face went blank.

"Yes, they are," she said. "It will take a few minutes. Then we should head downstairs." Serenity suddenly felt lightheaded and her heart picked up speed.

"Oh, my," she sighed. The back of her neck grew hot.

"Deep breaths," said Windwalker. Suddenly a water jug on a different table moved by itself and filled a goblet with water. The goblet glided across the room and stopped in midair in front of Serenity. She took it and drank the water. It made her feel better.

"Oh, I've got dragonflies in my stomach," she said.

"They'll go away," said Aurora.

"I'm sure Chris is just as nervous as you are," said Windwalker.

"He's not going to be the one walking down the aisle, with everyone looking at him," said Serenity. Suddenly Aurora's face went blank again.

"Time to head down," she said. Serenity let go of the now empty goblet and it sailed back to its spot. She followed the two dragons out of the room.

They headed down to the entrance hall. Serenity went carefully down the stairs, being careful not to rip anything. At the bottom they went to the closed front doors. Serenity could hear all the people and dragons talking outside. Aurora handed her a bouquet of daisies, tied together with gold ribbon. Serenity held it firmly.

"You ready?" asked Windwalker.

"Not yet," said Serenity, she took several deep breaths.

"We'll be right behind you," said Aurora. "Just keep your eyes forward, don't look at anything else."

"Alright," said Serenity. "Lets get this over with." Aurora nodded. She stuck her head out the door and let out a loud roar. The noises outside quieted down. Aurora and Windwalker pushed to doors open. Serenity was blinded by sunlight. She blinked a few times and saw the front lawn. It took her completely by surprise. The alter was made of polished marble, wrapped in white silk ribbons, pale green Per Ola Wiberg flowers and bright blue Spring Starflowers. The aisle was made of the same polished marble as the alter, and covered in white rose petals. On either side of the aisle the wedding guests sat on benches, some designed for humans and some designed for dragons. And they were all looking at her. She took a huge breath and made her way down the aisle towards the alter. She heard whispers coming from the crowd. She paid them no heed. Her eyes stared at the alter. Chris was waiting for her beside; Hiccup, Re, and Tenor.

Chris wore the same pants and boots. He wore a white tunic with black embroidery and long sleeves. A black belt wrapped around his waist, secured with a gold belt that had the Draconian crest on it. A white cape was attached to his shoulders and had a black Night Fury insignia in the middle.

He smiled as Serenity got closer to the alter. She smiled back. Before long, she reached the alter. She handed her bouquet to Aurora, who grasped it in her jaws. Then the two female dragons joined their mates. Serenity turned back to the alter. Chris held his hand out and she took it. She walked a little farther and stood facing him. They turned to Hiccup, indicating that he should begin.

"Before I start," he said to the crowd. "Let me just say how thankful and honored I am for being the marriage officiant for these two. Now, since these two are not Vikings, do not be surprised that their wedding is going to be different. I am more than happy to do this. Serenity and Chris wanted me to thank you all for being here and to recognize how important each and every one of you are to their relationship. They would also like to recognize all of those who couldn't make it here today as they are certainly missed but not forgotten on this day of celebration."

With that said Hiccup carried on.

"Dear friends and family," he said loud and clear. "We are all gathered here today to celebrate the union of Chris and Serenity, two cherished people, in marriage. Through their time together, they have come to realize that their personal dreams, hopes, and goals are more attainable and more meaningful through the combined effort and mutual support provided in love, commitment, and family; and so they have decided to live together as husband and wife.

A good marriage must be built on the foundation of this commitment. In marriage the 'little' things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands. It is remembering to say, 'I love you' at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry. It is standing together and facing the world. It is speaking words of appreciation, and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways. It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is not only marrying the right partner — it is being the right partner.

The road that has brought Serenity and Chris here today hasn't been easy. It's been filled with challenges that they weren't necessarily prepared for. They had been separated from each other for 10 years yet fate seems to deem them inseparable, and here they are standing before you today.

Now, these two have prepared vows that they would like to share with each other and for us to bear witness to. They are a way of sharing their love and commitment towards each other in their own words." He looked at Serenity indicating that it was her turn. She cleared her throat and began.

"Chris, ever since we were little, we always had a connection," she said. "We share a deep bond, much like the ones we share for the dragons. Every time we got in trouble, you always took the blame for me. I didn't get why you would purposefully want to get in trouble because of me, but as I grew older I finally knew the answer. You cared about me. Even though I came up with most of those ideas, our bond grew stronger every time you took the blame. You are my best friend. We have shared many things together, and I am happy that we are able to share this moment together, in each other's hands. I have seen you at your best and at your worst, and I have been there to support you all the time. And that strengthened our bond as well. There is a saying that I thought would best explain the love I feel for you. 'I saw that you were perfect and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more'. I vow to always be by your side. Whatever obstacle lies ahead of us, I will make sure we get through it. I look to you for strength, for joy, for support, just as much as you do to me. And I am more than happy to support and be supported by you Chris." She finished then waited for Chris to say his vows. She smiled at him. He took a few minuets but started.

"Serenity, when I realized that I was being raised by dragons," he said. "I knew that I was going to be different for the rest of my life. I thought I was going to be alone, but then, you came along. You made my life enjoyable. You have made me laugh, cry, angry, and so on. But I wouldn't trade any of that. You have helped me define who I was and who I am now. The only thing I regret is leaving you those 10 years of your life. But I thank Lord Draco that they have brought us together once again. Once I saw your face, I couldn't let you go. Once I saw you, some type of instinct awoke in me. I need to protect you from all harm. When you came back into my life, a new feeling overwhelmed me. It was the feeling of love. The love I have for you! You are my best friend, and when we reunited, I felt we have become something more. We are like two sides of the same coin. We compliment and bring out the best in each other. I could never ask for a better person to love, and share my life with. And what constantly amazes me is how you continue to not give up on me. I am grateful that you love me back. I am grateful that we can be something more than just best friends. I am grateful that I can call you 'my wife'. I am grateful that I will be the one to hold you in my arms. I am grateful you choose to depend on me, as I do to you. I vow that I will always be there for you. No matter how great the distance, or how dangerous the peril. I will love you unconditionally. Even though I may be a hero to others, but you Serenity, you are my hero. You always have, and always will be." Serenity blushed, her heart grew tight. They stared into each other's eyes for a few minuets, then turned back to Hiccup.

"Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them," he said. "The rings say that even in their uniqueness they have chosen to be bound together. These rings are a symbol of love and faithfulness. As they place it on each other's finger, they commit their hearts and souls to each other. The most precious metal symbolizes that their love is the most precious element in my life. The ring has no beginning and no ending, which symbolizes eternity. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. They wear the rings as a reminder of the vows they have spoken today, their wedding day"

At that moment Tenor went up to them, holding a white pillow in his gums. Two wedding rings sat on it. Serenity recognized hers at once. The rings looked similar. The bands were made of pure silver and had a celtic dragon wrapped around them. Serenity's ring was blue and green with a diamond in the dragon's eye, Chris's was black and gold with a yellow topaz gem in the dragon's eye. Chris took Serenity's ring off the pillow. He gently grasped her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger.

"Serenity," he said firmly. "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. I marry you with this ring, with all that I have and all that I am. I place it on your finger as a visible sign of the vows which have made us husband and wife." Serenity smiled wider. She took Chris's ring off the pillow, Tenor stepped back having done his part. Serenity grasped Chris's left hand and slid the ring onto his finger.

"I Give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness," she said. "As I place it on your finger, I give to you all that I am, and accept from you, all that you are. I ask you to wear this ring as a reminder of the vows we have spoken today, our wedding day." They smiled at each other, then turned to Hiccup again. It was time to wrap it up.

"Friends and family," he said boldly. "By the power vested in me, as the chief of Berk and ally of Draconia, I know pronounce these two husband and wife. You may now kiss." Chris wrapped a hand around Serenity's waist and pulled her closer to him. With his free hand he cupped her face, and pressed his lips to hers. Serenity wrapped her arms around his neck. The crowd burst into loud cheers. The dragons all roared and shot fire into the air. Chris and Serenity separated after a few minuets. They turned and faced the crowd hand in hand. They made their way back down the aisle, towards the great hall.

Inside the great hall there tables of food for the humans and massive bowls of fish for the dragons. The crowd filed in and helped themselves. Chris turned to Serenity.

"You look fabulous," he said.

"Thank you," said Serenity. "Your mother made it with her magic."

"Glass slippers," Chris said, looking down at her shoes.

"Yup," said Serenity. "I finally finished Cinderella this morning."

"About time," said Chris.

"Yes," Serenity agreed. "I also unlocked my book cabinet full of fairy tales."

"What are you going to read next?" Chris asked. Serenity shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "I'll have to scan them. I kind of forgot what fairy tales I have. I haven't read them in so long." Chris put an arm around her shoulders. She smiled quietly. She put her arm around his shoulders.

"You look great too by the way," she said. She kissed his cheek.

They didn't have much chance to talk to each other after that. The crowd conversed on them. Serenity went from friend to friend they congratulated her, and she thanked them for coming. Many of them complimented on her glass slippers.

Windwalker and Tenor watched from one of the bowls of fish. They were the only ones there as most of the other dragons were talking to Serenity or Chris.

"These humans have very interesting customs," said Windwalker. "That mouth thing for one."

"It's a show of affection I think," said Tenor, with his mouth full. "Similar to how dragons nuzzle and lick each other." He swallowed. Windwalker looked at him.

"No one's ever done such things to me," she said sadly.

"Really?" said Tenor. "Your parents never nuzzled you before you went to sleep."

"Well yeah my parents did," said Windwalker. "But not a male dragon my age."

"Hmm, well it's never happened to me either," Tenor said sympathetically. "Serenity kisses my nose every now and then. But that doesn't really count, she's human." Windwalker smiled at him.

"You know, I don't think it's happened to her either before all this," she said. Tenor nodded in agreement, his mouth full of fish again. Windwalker stepped closer to him. He pinned his ears back bashfully.

"Very interesting the relationship you and Chris have," he said, changing the subject. "You go from mere acquaintances, to best friends, to dragon and rider, now you're technically his aunt." Windwalker laughed very loud.

"Very true," she said. Just then they were approached by Re. The two nightly dragons turned to him, blushing. Tenor swallowed his latest mouthful of fish.

"Excuse the interruption," Re said. "But I wonder if I might have a word with you Windwalker." Windwalker looked surprised. She turned to Tenor again.

"Don't go anywhere," she said. She then licked his muzzle. Tenor stood there in a trance as Windwalker followed Re out of the great hall. Tenor soon snapped out of his trance.

Serenity meanwhile was still socializing with her friends. She realized the wedding was almost over. The thought made her sad. She was really enjoying herself. Her dragon must have caught the expression on her face.

"Why so sad?" Tenor asked.

"The wedding's almost over," said Serenity.

"Well, there's still the honeymoon," Tenor pointed out.

"That's true," said Serenity. She and Chris planned to have their honeymoon on Mt. Vulcan. Re and Aurora had had accommodations put out there several weeks before the wedding. It was a house big enough for both of them, and their dragons. Chris wanted to visit his dragon friends as much as possible.

"Man, having a mate will take some getting used to," Tenor said. "Windwalker just kissed me." Serenity chuckled. She stroked his neck.

"You've got all the time in the world," she said. "You'll get used to it." Tenor nuzzled her. Just then Windwalker came up to them. She looked very pleased about something.

"What did Re want?" Tenor asked.

"He asked me to be Captain of the Guard," said Windwalker. "And I accepted."

"Congrats," said Tenor. "And welcome to the team."

"But you already have that large squadron to take care of?" Serenity asked.

"I'll manage," Windwalker said. "I really don't have to do very much unless this country goes to war. I can still fulfill may alpha job easily." Serenity smiled and hugged the Night Fury.

"I'm very happy for you," she said happily. Windwalker purred. Chris came up to them.

"It's time to go," he said. Tenor and Windwalker turned and hurried out of the great hall. Re let out a loud roar to quiet the crowd.

"It's time for Serenity and Chris to head to Mt. Vulcan now," he said. "So if everyone could head outside so we can see them off." The crowd filed out of the great hall. When the room was empty Chris turned to Serenity again.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Serenity answered. Chris gripped her hand. He led her out of the great hall.

Outside they saw that the lawn had been cleaned up from the wedding. The guests were all assembled on the grass. They parted so Chris could lead Serenity towards the gates where their dragons were waiting. Everyone cheered as they passed. When they reached their dragons Chris scooped Serenity up into his arms and care fully put her sideways on Windwalker's saddle. He got on behind her. He turned Windwalker in the direction of Mt. Vulcan. She spread her wings and took off, letting out a loud roar. She circled the lawn once, then flew into the sunset, with Tenor right behind her.


End file.
